Troubled MHU scrambles for taker after talks with PTBA fails

East Kalimantan coal miner PT.Multi Harapan Utama is in talks with a Malaysian company in a bid to save the financially troubled miner?s license being revoked by the government due to its royalty arrears.

?MHU is in talks to sell stake to a Malaysian company, but I can not disclose the name,? said MHU senior official Obang Suwandi in an interview Friday.?We hope to be able to clinch the deal, but if we can?t we have to accept the government?s decision to close the mine?s operations.?

MHU?s decision to try to sell stake to Malaysian company came after similar talks that had been ongoing for a year with state coal miner PT.Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) failed.

Ministry of Energy and Mineral resources had warned that MHU?s mining license would be revoked if it failed to pay its US$8 million royalty arrears within one month?s time. Aside from royalty arrears, sources said that MHU also owed its contractors and suppliers some $40 million.

According to Petromindo data, MHU, which produces 1.6 million tons of coal in 2003, is controlled by individuals such as Graeme Robertson, former president director of Adaro Indonesia and businessmen that are connected to tycoon Liem Sioe Liong such as Ibrahim Risjad and Henry Pribadi.(godang)