June 25 (SeeNews) - US-headquarterd Castleton Commodities International (CCI) has sent a letter to the Croatian government expressing its interest in becoming a strategic partner to oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA], Croatian media reported over the weekend.
In the letter which Croatia's government received in March, CCI says it is ready to assist the government in its intention to repurchase the shares in INA held by Hungarian group MOL, TV news broadcaster N1 reported on Saturday.
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Croatia's government said in April it has selected a consortium of Morgan Stanley, Intesa Sanpaolo Group and Privredna Banka Zagreb [ZSE:PBZ] to advise it on the possible repurchase of the stake in INA.
In 2017, Russia's state-owned oil giant Rosneft said it is interested in acquiring a stake in INA. The company's intention was met with criticism from the United States, whose ambassador to Croatia, Robert Kohorst, told local news agency Hina that Russia is a disturbing factor in the region.
"We want Croatia to have a partner that is willing to offer support," Kohorst said in February.
On Christmas Eve 2016, Croatia's prime minister Andrej Plenkovic announced the government's decision to buy MOL's stake in INA.
MOL is the biggest shareholder in INA with a 49.08% stake. The Croatian government owns 44.84%, with the remaining 6.08% is held by institutional and private investors.