Churchill Mining Sues Indonesian President

VIVAnews - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was sued by British company Churchill Mining Plc in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington D.C. following the revocation of the four mining licenses that comprise the East Kutai Coal Project (EKCP). 

"The lawsuit must be responded well," said President Yudhoyono on Thursday, June 28. 

"According to [East Kutai] regent, as cited by my ministers, there is a solid base of why [the licenses] were revoked."

The Indonesian president called for his ministers to prepare legal actions against the lawsuit. 

"I hope that we'll win the case as I do not expect the multinational company to do whatever it wants to put pressure on such a developing country as Indonesia," said Yudhoyono.

On 15 June 2012, the Supreme Court of Indonesia affirmed East Kutai Regent’s decision to revoke the mining licenses of Britain-based Churchill Mining PLC (“Churchill”).

Churchill claims that it owns four coal mining concessions in the East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan, through 75% ownership of its subsidiary, Ridlatama. Churchill’s claim before ICSID amounts to USD 2 billion based on an estimate that the concessions would produce up to USD 1 billion in annual revenue for twenty years.