REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government and PT Freeport Indonesia have begun discussions on state revenues for the central and regional governments.

State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said on Wednesday that the Finance Ministry is currently leading the negotiations on taxation for the central government and levies for the regional government.

On the issue of divestment, the minister said it is expected to reach an agreement in the first quarter of 2019, including on the procedure for calculating the value of divestment.

"We emphasize that the divestment process must be completed in the first quarter of 2019," Soemarno remarked.

The minister said the government is currently evaluating the method to calculate Freeport's value.

"The point is it is still in the negotiation phase," she noted.

Earlier, Finance Minister Mulyani had stated that after gaining surety on the construction of the required smelter and a divestment commitment of 51 percent, the government will focus on negotiating on the issue of investment certainty and state revenue.

The minister said basically four areas being negotiated between the government and Freeport are the construction of a smelter, a 51 percent share divestment commitment, investment certainty and state revenues, and an extension of operations.

"Investment certainty and state revenues are the leading issues in the negotiations with Freeport. We are formulating under Article 128 of the law on the mineral and coal resources," the finance minister had stated some time ago.

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