Hungary Ready To Sell Back INA Stake To Croatia
Hungary is ready to negotiate a reasonable deal with Croatia to sell back the stake it owns in Croatia’s leading oil company INA, said prime minister Viktor Orban November 28. The gesture could solve the long-standing dispute between the two countries over the company.
Hungarian MOL Group, a quarter owned by the state, first purchased a 25% stake in INA in 2003. Over the last decade the company added to this and as of 2017, it owns 49.1% of INA shares and Croatia has 44.8% stake.
After the jailing of former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader for corruption in 2012, the Croatian government sought to nullify its agreement with MOL, claiming that the Hungarian oil major had gained control over INA by bribing Sanader.
Political and economic relations have been stable between the two countries, despite the litigation between MOL and the Croatian government, and Orban said they wanted to clear the matter up.
“From our side there is kindliness. We would like to cool the moods and find a rational solution and continue the historically proven and well-tried policy of good co-existence,” Orban said on the margins of the China-Central and Eastern European Countries summit, after meeting with his Croatian counterpart, Andrej Plenkovic. According to Plenkovic there is a clear political will to find a solution for INA – but it must be fair for both sides.
Talking in a press conference after meeting Orban, Plenkovic also raised hopes of more agreements on energy between Croatia and Hungary, including the creation of two-way gas transportation. Croatia could be home to an LNG import terminal which would need an outlet into Hungary, although the proposed Croatian transport tariffs have been an obstacle.
INA reported strong financial results in 1H2017 with pre-tax profit of kuna 1.398bn ($219.9mn) and net income of kuna 861mn. Domestic onshore gas production was up by 6% compared with the first half of 2016.
After months of delays INA received earlier in November the first gas from the Petisovci gas field across the border in Slovenia, produced by Slovenian Geoenergo and UK Ascent, which represents a significant new gas source for the Croatian domestic market.