Bosnia's Energopetrol Owner MOL/INA Faces New Investment/Debt Repayment Deadline - Media

Sources from the Privatisation Agency of the Federation, which has proposed that the government scrap the deal in case the new deadline is missed, have confirmed that only 6.0 million marka ($4.5 million/3.0 million euro) have been pumped into Energopetrol since its privatisation three years ago, while the consortium had pledged to invest 150 million marka over that period, daily Dnevni Avaz (www.dnevniavaz.ba) reported.

The MOL/INA consortium bought 67% of Energopetrol in September 2006, paying 10.2 million marka to the government of the Federation. In addition to its investment commitments, it also vowed at the time to settle Energopetrol's outstanding debt of 60 million marka.

The consortium has so far repaid 45.77 million marka of the outstanding debt, failing to explain or verify how the rest of the money allocated for debt repayment has been expensed, the daily reported, quoting the head of the commission in charge of policing the implementation of the privatisation contract, Tatjana Kosovic.

The government owns 22% of Energopetrol and retail investors own the remainder.

The Federation is one of the two autonomous parts forming post-war Bosnia. The other is the Serb Republic.

(1 euro=1.95583 Bosnian marka)