Indon leaders deny plans to oust Singapore stake in telco

The Straits Times, May 4, 2007


AN ALLEGED 'dirty tricks' campaign to oust Temasek-owned ST Telemedia from its controlling stake in Indonesian telecommunications company Indosat has Jakarta abuzz, with several top leaders coming out to deny their involvement.

Details of the plan have emerged from several sources over the past two weeks, with Indonesian newspaper Koran Tempo naming Russian conglomerate Alfa Group as the main mover.

The group is said to be interested in the 42-per-cent stake in Indosat held by ST Telemedia's majority-owned Asia Mobile. It is alleged to have aggressively courted high-level government and political leaders.

Allegations have been made of large sums of money exchanging hands, and the promise of more money after the planned ouster succeeds.

But several politicians implicated in the campaign have denied any role in it.

Yesterday's Koran Tempo quoted State Minister for State-owned Enterprises Sugiharto denying that he had met Altimo, Alfa's telco arm, to discuss plans to oust ST Telemedia from Indosat.

He told the paper: 'I've not been to Russia and have not spoken to the Russians... I've already said I'll leave it to market forces.''

Mr Sugiharto's office had been named as a facilitator of the plan to oust St Telemedia.

Documents obtained by The Straits Times, which are believed to be copies of an internal presentation by executives of the Russian company, also indicated that other top government leaders were also involved in the plan.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.