Prabowo orders IUPK holders to fulfil downstreaming obligations, maintain subsidised fuel prices
President Prabowo Subianto has requested that companies holding Special Mining Business Permits (IUPK) fulfil their obligations to carry out downstreaming programmes in accordance with applicable regulations. Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia stated that the directive was delivered during a limited meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, which was also attended by the Head of the Development Control and Special Investigations Agency (Bappisus) Aris Marsudiyanto and the Head of BP BUMN, who also serves as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Danantara Indonesia, Dony Oskaria.
Bahlil said that during the meeting, he reported to President Prabowo on the progress of downstreaming programmes by national companies that had received an extension of their Coal Mining Concession Work Agreements (PKP2B) into IUPK licences. “I also reported to the President regarding the downstreaming programmes of several national companies that have obtained extensions from PKP2B to IUPK, one of the obligations of which is to carry out downstreaming,” Bahlil said. The President emphasised that these downstreaming obligations must be implemented according to the prevailing rules. “The President’s directive is that it must be carried out in accordance with the regulations. If there are any that do not comply, measurable steps must be taken immediately to enforce Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution,” he stated.
In addition to downstreaming, the limited meeting also discussed the handling of power outages in several areas of Kalimantan and the development of global oil prices. Regarding the blackouts in parts of Kalimantan, President Prabowo ordered Bahlil to take immediate, measurable steps together with state electricity company PT PLN (Persero) to resolve the ongoing outages. “We must admit that in some areas, especially in Kalimantan, there are still power outages in several spots. Because of this, the President ordered me to take immediate, measurable steps with PLN to resolve this properly,” Bahlil explained. He clarified that the outages were not due to a shortage of energy supply. “According to information from PLN, it is related to maintenance. It is not a problem with the energy supply; there is no issue with the energy,” he said.
Meanwhile, regarding the development of global oil prices, the President instructed that subsidised fuel prices must not be increased. The government will also consider adjusting non-subsidised fuel prices in line with the movement of global crude oil prices. “The President’s directive is to maintain subsidised fuel prices and not to raise them. However, if the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) falls, we will also consider adjusting the non-subsidised prices. If it goes down, it goes down, but do not raise it, that is the gist of it,” Bahlil remarked.