Hungarian MOL-Croatian INA war: did MOL CEO Hernádi bribe Croatian PM with EUR 10M?
It was a mistake to sell shares of INA, Croatia’s oil company, especially in light of the energy crisis, declared Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Tuesday in Zagreb, emphasising that his position on this matter has been clear for a long time.
They want to buy it back
“We conducted a thorough analysis and offered a fair price—one that was reasonable and in line with the assessments of leading experts in the energy sector at the time. However, the Hungarian side rejected this offer,” the Prime Minister stated firmly.
He added that Croatia is not in a position to pay five times the price. “If they want to sell at a fair price, we will buy,” Plenkovic declared.
Zagreb turned to international arbitration at the start of 2014, alleging that MOL obtained control over INA through corruption, that MOL failed to make promised investments in Croatian oil refineries under the shareholder agreement, and that the Hungarian investor violated Croatian commercial laws.
The courts ruled in favour of MOL
MOL has consistently denied these accusations. The Geneva arbitration panel dismissed all of Croatia’s claims regarding bribery and alleged breaches of the 2003 shareholder agreement.
Following the arbitration decision, on 24 December 2016, Plenkovic announced in an extraordinary press conference that the Croatian state intended to buy out MOL’s shares in INA.
Currently, MOL owns 49.08% of INA and holds controlling rights over the company, while the Croatian state owns 44.84%.
Croatian Prime Minister in prison, MOL’s CEO subject to arrest warrant
Ivo Sanader, who served as Croatia’s Prime Minister between 2003 and 2009 and during whose tenure MOL acquired control over INA, was released from prison on 31 July after serving 9.5 years of an 18-year sentence.
The Croatian court found MOL’s CEO, Zsolt Hernádi, guilty of bribing Sanader with €10 million to secure control of INA. Sanader was also convicted on multiple other corruption and bribery charges. For the MOL case, Sanader was sentenced to nearly two years in prison, while Hernádi received a two-year custodial sentence.
Croatia issued an Interpol warrant for Hernádi’s arrest in the early 2010s and requested his extradition from Hungary. Hungary refused to comply, and Interpol removed Hernádi from its international wanted list at the end of 2023. This allows Hernádi to travel, but he remains barred from entering the Schengen Area due to the valid Croatian arrest warrant, which could remain in effect until after 2030, when the judgement would expire.
Read also:
- Hungary’s MOL explores geothermal power in bold sustainability move
- Hungarian gas and oil giant MOL secures a 2/3rd majority in the operator of Hungary’s top university, BME
Click for more news concerning the Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL.