Freeport will hold its shareholders meeting next month

The gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia will finally hold its much-awaited annual shareholders’ general meeting-- which had not been held since 2001-- next month, the Koran Tempo newspaper reported in its Wednesday edition.

Freeport, senior communication manager Siddharta Moersjid said the meeting will be held in next month.

“But I don’t know the agenda of the meeting, Siddharta told the Koran Tempo recently.

When asked about the reason to organize the meeting, he said it is an obligation of the company to hold shareholders’ meeting and to respect the rights of the shareholders, which are mentioned in the company’s rules.

He refused to comment on the speculation that Freeport delayed the shareholders’ meeting due to the merger plan, under which the parent company of Freeport Indonesia Freeport McMoran will absolve PT Indocopper Investama and emerge as the single largest private owner of the mining company. Indonesian government has 9.36 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia.

But the government had already rejected the merger plan and the Freeport must sell the shares of PT Indocopper to national companies within 180 days.

Meanwhile, deputy to the state minister for state enterprises Roes Aryawijaya said the agenda of the shareholders meeting will be to approve the company’s financial statements for the years of 2001 and 2002.

According to one source of the Koran Tempo, the meeting will likely to be held on September 11, 2004. (*)