Energy Minister: Freeport Negotiation Begins After I Take Office

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday (20/2). (Photo by: Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Public Relations).

The negotiation leading to 51 percent of Freeport’s shares taken over by the Indonesian Government began since he directly led the negotiation with Freeport-McMoran CEO, according to Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan has said.

“Negotiations before I took office as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources were not used as a basis for the negotiation that was agreed on last year,” Jonan said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday (20/2).

According to Jonan, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo in October 2016 appointed him as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources and mandated him to resolve negotiations with Freeport. The President, he added, also ordered him to negotiate with Freeport about 51 percent of divestment, to build smelters, to change from the KK (working contract) to the IUPK (Special Mining Permit), and to contribute a bigger portion for the country’s revenue.

Therefore, Jonan continued, anything related to the negotiation before he assumed the office is irrelevant to the negotiations. “With my assignment to become the minister, negotiation (leading to 51 percent of Freeport’s shares taken over by the Indonesian Government) started from zero,” Jonan said.

On that occasion, the Minister also told the press that President Jokowi only met with Freeport-McMoran CEO Richard Adkerson on 21 December 2018. “The President only met him at the IUPK signing day,” Jonan concluded.

“The President never received Freeport specifically during my time as minister. Until the signing of the IUPK has only met with the President, that’s all, “Jonan said. (Humas Kementerian ESDM/ES)

Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Edited by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas