MOL owns a little under 50% of INA’s shares. The Croatian state is the other major stakeholder.
The two shareholders have often been at odds over the way the company is managed, and tensions increased early in October, after Croatian law enforcement officials issued an arrest warrant for MOL chairman/CEO Zsolt Hernádi. He is suspected of bribing former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader to give MOL management rights in INA.
Hungary’s government responded to the issue of the warrant saying the Croatian government intended to use “unbusinesslike tools” to “pressure” MOL into parting with its stake in INA without making a buyout offer.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said later that Hungary’s “extraordinary” longstanding relationship with Croatia was far dearer than MOL’s stake in INA.
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