MOL learned “with surprise and regret” that the Croatian government’s team of negotiators had rejected all four mediators recommended by the U.S. State Department and “delayed the negotiation process once again”, the statement says. MOL added that “today it is clearer than ever which side is undermining the negotiations by placing personal and political considerations above INA’s best commercial interest.”
Commenting on the Croatian prime minister’s “politicized letters” reportedly sent to INA’s board, MOL said that “MOL Group has not participated in such political activism and it will continue to refrain from doing so in the future”.
Hungary’s gas and oil company MOL holds about 49% in Croatian peer INA and the Croatian government is the second largest shareholder with approximately 44% interest. The stakeholders have been at odds for years over a perceived lack of investment in the company by MOL, the state’s failure to take over INA’s loss-making gas business, and charges of corruption. Both shareholders are in arbitration.
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