January 19 (SeeNews) - Croatia's MOST party, part of the government coalition, has proposed a bond issue to raise funds for regaining ownership of oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA-R-A], local media reported on Thursday.
The sale of a stake in energy utility HEP to fund the buyback of INA shares owned by Hungary's MOL is just one of the options the government is considering, news agency Hina quoted MOST leader and parliament speaker, Bozo Petrov, as saying.
All options are being analysed by a joint task force made up of members of the two governing parties, MOST and HDZ, Petrov noted.
In late December, Croatia's prime minister Andrej Plenkovic unveiled a government decision to regain ownership of INA after it emerged that MOL had won an arbitration case launched by Croatia before the arbitral tribunal of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
In 2014, Croatia filed for international arbitration against MOL with the aim to cancel a 2009 deal that allowed MOL to take over INA's management.
Whether the government will decide to sell a stake in HEP to finance the transaction all depends on the price MOL will set for its 49.08% stake in INA. The government controls 44.84% of INA, while institutional and private investors hold a stake of 6.08%.
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