Hungarian MOL sues Croatia again: they want euro millions!

The Hungarian oil and gas giant, MOL, has initiated a procedure at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against the Croatian state.

According to 24.hu, MOL has taken action against Zagreb, alleging that the Croatian government pressured INA, their Croatian subsidiary, to sell extracted natural gas to the Croatian company Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group) at a low price.

During the energy crises of 2022 and 2023, the Croatian government set gas prices at EUR 41/MWh, later increasing them to EUR 47. However, MOL claims that this decision was unlawful and caused financial damage to the company.

MOL owns and operates INA

The Croatian newspaper 24sata questioned why MOL initiated the procedure instead of INA, which they own. MOL holds a 49.08% stake in the INA Group and has operational rights, while 44.84% of the Croatian company is owned by the Croatian state.

MOL issued a brief statement after the Croatian paper reported on the issue, but they did not provide further details.

According to sources close to MOL, the Croatian newspaper reported that the Hungarian company had attempted multiple times to settle the issue peacefully with the Zagreb government. However, Croatia’s Minister of Economy, Davor Filipovic, refused to negotiate. Consequently, MOL had no choice but to seek international arbitration, submitting their appeal to the ICSID in Washington.