Hungarian oil and gas group MOL said it asked the administrative court of Croatia to review and annul the decisions to its detriment by Croatian market watchdog HANFA.
In May, HANFA claimed MOL had manipulated the market in connection with its December 2010 public-purchase offer for 8% of the shares of Croatian peer INA.
The watchdog suspended trade in INA shares indefinitely until a procedure can establish whether regulations have been broken with regard to “price-sensitive information”. It also filed criminal charges against MOL on suspicion of market manipulation.
MOL contends that it has always acted honestly, clearly and transparently during and after its offer for INA shares and has always observed all capital market regulations and Croatian laws.
HANFA on May 18 said MOL’s free float offer for 8% of INA shares at 2,800 Croatian kuna per share, the same as the price in a public purchase offer the company made in the autumn of 2008, and subsequent information disseminated through the media represented “false and misleading” signals aimed at acquiring a majority stake in INA.
MOL currently owns 47.75% of INA. The Croatian government has a 44.84% stake.
Croatia’s government earlier this month said it wanted new talks with MOL on INA.
“The goal of talks is to ensure more efficient implementation of the goals from the shareholder agreement, especially in relation to national energy stability, and improvement of the business results and INA’s market position in Croatia and southeastern Europe,” the government said. “We think that these goals have not been met,” it added.
MOL said it was open to talks with the Croatian government.
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