Hungarian PM Suggests Croatia Buy MOL’s Stake in INA

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban intervened in the INA debate, saying that Croatia could prevent damages to bilateral relations by buying the stake that Hungarian MOL Group holds in the Croatian company. 

“Since friendship is more important than a specific deal, we propose that the Croatian side should consider taking these shares into state hands and let us settle this in a fair manner,” Orban said in a interview on a national public radio.

Earlier this week, Croatian authorities decided to add MOL Group Chairman and CEO Zsolt Hernadi to their domestic arrest warrant list on bribery charges. MOL said that it would defend its management by all legal means.

‘The Board of Directors of MOL Group will continue to apply this structured process of evaluating strategic, financial and political aims to present share values, as the Company is going to reconsider the nature of any future involvement with INA in the near future,’ reads a note released by the company on Thursday.

Croatian former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was accused of accepting a bribe in 2008 from MOL to allow the Hungarian oil and gas company acquiring a dominant position without a majority stake. MOL is now the largest single shareholder.