A business group from Russia, Altimo – Alfa Group is rumored as ready to buy 42 percent of the PT Indonesian Satellite's (Indosat) shares owned by ST Telemedia (Singapore).

Coordinator of the Business Technology and Information Analysis Institute, Musarman, explained that from the result of his institution's study, Altimo's plan to buy Indosat was discovered. “They provide US$2 billion of funds (around Rp18 trillion) for the transaction,” Musarman told Tempo in Jakarta yesterday (30/4).

He said that in order to realize the plan, Altimo has designed two scenarios. First, Altimo will directly buy 42 percent of Indosat's shares from ST Telemedia. Second, Altimo, through the State Enterprises Ministry, will buy all Indosat's shares that are owned by the Temasek Holding's subsidiary.

Musarman said, in carrying out the missions, Altimo utlized its representative in Jakarta to perform lobbying. “The name is Suharto,” he said.

When asked for confirmation, Suharto, who was in Russia, disputed the accusation. “That's not true,” he said.
He promised he would respond to the accusation by the time he returns from Russia. Indosat's spokesperson, Adita Irawati, also acknowledged not having information about the purchase plan. “So far we only know about the issue from the media,” she said.

Earlier, the government was also interested in buying back Indosat's shares from PT Telemedia. Vice President Jusuf Kalla, on many occasions, stated that the government wanted to buy back Indosat's shares. Adding to this, many groups in the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Councils (DPDs) continue generating support for the plan.

Indosat's shares on the floor of the stock market has been recording a rise since last week. On yesterday's trade, Indosat's price closed at Rp6,800 per share, rising Rp400 compared to Wednesday's (23/4) price of Rp6,400.

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