Croatia Sends MOL Proposal for New INA Shareholders Agreement

The Croatian government has sent Hungary's MOL a proposal for a new shareholders agreement for the joint management of Zagreb-based oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA-R-A], the Croatian economy ministry said on Monday.

The proposal was sent on Friday and the next round of talks with MOL is expected to take place in June, a spokesperson for the ministry told SeeNews in an email.

MOL owns 49.08% of INA and the Croatian government controls a further 44.84%.

In August 2013,the Croatian government said the deteriorating performance of the Zagreb-based company over the past years and underinvestment in its refineries had led to a decision to renegotiate the terms of INA's management. A month later the two sides launched talks on the issue.

In November, MOL said its executive board had been authorized to start preparations for the sale of the company’s stake in INA.

On the backdrop of the ongoing negotiations, MOL filed in November 2013 for international arbitration against the government in Zagreb at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes for breaching certain of its obligations in relation to the Hungarian company's investments in Croatia. In January 2014, the Croatian government filed for arbitration with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

INA's consolidated loss rose 26% to 1.9 billion kuna ($287.3 million/251.98 million euro) in 2014.

Source: SeeNews