Indonesia Restructures Timber Debts
12/9/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: INDONESIA Restructures Timber Debts
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 9, 1999
JAKARTA, Indonesia, December 9, 1999 (ENS) - Indonesian bank
officials are scrambling to restructure the US$632 million debt owed
by companies controlled by Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, a close associate of
former Indonesian president Suharto.
Hasan received numerous Indonesian forest concessions, logged the
land, but then was unable to make his loan payments, many of which
belong to foreign creditors.
Pulp and paper firm PT Kiani Kertas is the largest single borrower in
Hasan's group with a debt equivalent to nearly US$344 million.
Other debtors include:
PT Kalimanis Plywood Industries: US$41.2 million
PT Essam Timber: US$13.9 million
PT Jati Maluku Timber: US$2.1 million
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency officials said they hope to
finish the debt restructuring by next June, but said it is difficult
negotiating with foreign creditors and changing governments.
Companies under Hasan's control include Hasan's own forestry division
and firms under PT Nusantara Ampera Bakti, an investment company
formerly controlled by foundations chaired by Suharto.
The debt and the losses of forested land deal a serious blow to a
country that loses about one million hectares (2.47 million acres) of
tropical forest each year. Timber exploitation and poor planting
management have resulted in worrying levels of forest destruction,
Nur Mahmudi Ismail, Indonesian minister of forestry and plantations,
said this week.
Forests and plantations make up 60 percent of the country's land
area.