Govt decree on PTBA divestment completed

The government on Wednesday completed the formulation of a decree on the divestment of state coal mining firm PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA), a senior official said on Wednesday as reported by Bisnis Indonesia daily.

?The decree is ready to be signed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri,? said Mahmuddin Yasin, deputy to the state minister of state enterprises.

According to existing standard procedures, PTBA can formally register at Capital Market Supervising Agency (Bapepam) for initial public offering (IPO) only after the government decree has come out.

PTBA president director Ismet Harmaini said earlier the government had not disclosed whether the portion of PTBA shares to be offered to the public would be either 30 percent or 35 percent.

Ismet said his company would formally register at Bapepam this week for its IPO, saying that there should not be delay in the move.

The divestment plan aims to narrow the country?s state budget deficit which is estimated at 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2002.

PTBA operates coalmines in South Sumatra and West Sumatra which turn out 10.2 million tons of coal in 2001. The company?s total production was targeted at 9.8 million tons in 2002. (*)