PM says all INA buy models not generating debt will be considered

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reiterated on Friday that the council for negotiations with Hungary's MOL would consider all models for a possible buyout of MOL's stake in its Croatian peer INA, including the establishment of a state-run energy holding, and that the key criterion would be not to generate any public debt.

In the period ahead, the council will analyse all options for finding funds to buy MOL's stake in INA, Plenkovic told reporters in Virovitica. The key criterion is not to generate any public debt, that the entire procedure be feasible, realistic and transparent, and to rely on experts with an international reputation who can contribute to the project's credibility, he added.

He said the council for negotiations with MOL, which the government formed last month, would also analyse a third model, a state holding comprised of INA, the HEP power supplier, the Plinacro gas pipeline operator and the Janaf oil pipeline operator. The holding would not manage the companies but its shares in them, and it would take out loans to buy MOL's stake in INA.

Plenkovic went on to say that the government was still seeking a solution so that the price of gas did not go up. "The price of gas on the European market is higher than last year," he said, adding that he tasked the energy ministry with finding a model so that the price did not go up for households.

 

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