MOL acknowledges sentencing of former Croatian PM, calls case "political"
Hungarian oil and gas company MOL on Tuesday acknowledged the sentencing of former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader on corruption charges involving the alleged payment of a €5 million bribe to give MOL management rights over Croatian peer INA.
"Obviously we need to respect [the sentence] and regard it as a decision of an independent juridical body of the Republic of Croatia," MOL said.
"However we consider this case to be less about the companies that have been named, but more as a political matter within Croatia," it added.
Sanader was sentenced to ten years in prison on the graft conviction by a court in Zagreb on Tuesday.
MOL recalled it "rejected categorically" accusations made against the company and said it would continue to do so.
"As the largest foreign investor in Croatia we want to contribute to make INA even more successful and profitable," it added.
MOL holds a little less than 50% of INA, slightly more than the stake held by the Croatian government.
MOL shares were down almost 3% early Tuesday afternoon, falling on concerns Croatia could review the company's shareholder agreement with INA.
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