MOL head Hernádi meets OMV executive in Vienna despite Interpol ban

Budapest, October 14 (MTI) – Zsolt Hernádi, chairman-chief executive of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, held talks with Rainer Seele, head of Austrian peer OMV, in Vienna on Wednesday, market players told MTI.

MOL confirmed Hernadi’s visit to MTI, and said he was staying legally in Austria and has also made several official trips to Germany in recent months.

Hernádi was again placed on Interpol’s wanted persons list in February this year. Being on the list means that any member of Interpol, including Austria, must take him into custody and return him to the country where he is originally wanted, in this case, Croatia.

Hernadi’s name was first included on the list after Croatian police issued a warrant for his arrest in 2013 on suspicion he bribed former prime minister Ivo Sanader to give MOL management rights in Croatian peer INA. His name was removed in 2014 after his case came under review by the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files. Hernádi was cleared of the charges in a Hungarian court.

A three-year clash over INA has included mutual arbitration suits over management rights and the Croatian government’s alleged breaches of contract, a Croatian Supreme Court bribery verdict against Sanader for his role in INA’s sale, and charges of bribery in a Croatian court against Hernádi, which he denies.

Source: MTI