Newmont?s divestment program passes December deadline

PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) and the West Nusa Tenggara provincial administration have yet to reach an agreement on the divestment of 10 percent stake in the company despite the December deadline for the completion of the divestment program, Kontan Daily reported Friday.

Director General of Mineral, Coal and Geothermal Resources at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Simon Sembiring said in Jakarta Thursday that the negotiation was still ongoing. ?The Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) continues to act as a facilitator (in the negotiation),? he said.

Under the initial plan, Newmont?s divestment of ten percent stake is expected to be settled before the end of December 2007.

?A negotiation is still underway. We will issue a warning if an agreement cannot be reached,? he said.

Meanwhile, BKPM?s head Muhammad Lufti declined to comment on the negotiation. ?We will leave the issue to the government,? he said.

Sources said that the provision of the funds for the purchase of the 10 percent stake has been cited as the source of the problem, with the West Nusa Tenggara administration?s plan to team up with PT Bumi Resources Tbk in purchasing the stake.

However, Newmont objected to the plan, arguing that if a company is given a right to buy the stake, then the divestment program is also open to any companies interested in buying the stake.

?If that is the case, Newmont will see the divestment as a business to business affair,? PT Newmont Pacific Nusantara?s President Director Martiono Hadianto said. (*)