Croatia announces plan to regain ownership of INA

The Croatian government has decided to regain ownership of the INA oil and gas company by buying the entire stake held by the Hungarian energy group MOL, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced at a press conference in Zagreb on Saturday evening.

"The Hungarian side has been notified of this political decision, I personally did it this evening," Plenkovic said.

He said that the government had been notified by its legal representatives that the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in Geneva had ruled in the lawsuit brought by Croatia against MOL.

"The presentation of evidence was completed before this government took office. The Arbitral Tribunal has ruled that the evidence presented is not sufficient to prove that the agreements signed in 2009 are the result of corruption activities and refused to nullify them," Plenkovic said.

He said that Croatian courts had not made any final rulings proving that either, noting that actually the only one such ruling was recently quashed by the Constitutional Court.

"The government is strongly opposed to the Arbitral Tribunal's ruling and we are considering all legal options with our legal advisers to contest it," Plenkovic said.

He said that, according to his information, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington would rule on this matter by the end of next year.

"As I have emphasised several times, both during the election campaign and after assuming the office of Prime Minister, we have considered the best options for the future of INA. In the context of both the national interests and energy security of Croatia, INA for us is a strategic national company.

"That's why Croatia will initiate a buyout of MOL's entire stake in INA under a model we have already worked out, which is financially sustainable and which eventually will not increase Croatia's public debt," Plenkovic said.

He said that this decision was supported by the President of the Republic and the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament.

"This decision has been made in the best interests of Croatia and in the best interests of INA as Croatia's strategic company," Plenkovic said.

Parliament Speaker Bozo Petrov of the Bridge party, a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said in an interview with the N1 television channel: "The prime minister and I agreed together on future plans for INA. The outcome of the arbitration is not favourable for Croatia, so we will launch a buyout and acquisition of the majority stake in this strategic company. Bridge has always advocated protection of INA."

Text and photo: Hina

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