September 29 (SeeNews) - Croatian oil and gas group INA [ZSE:INA] said on Thursday that is supervisory board has appointed a new six-member management board.
Earlier this month, INA's Hungarian CEO Sandor Fasimon and the two other representatives of Hungarian energy company MOL which is the largest shareholder in INA, stepped down, while the three Croatian members of the board were dismissed by the government amidst an ongoing corruption probe in INA.
Peter Ratatics was appointed new president of the management board, and Berislav Gaso and Krisztian Pulay were appointed board members, as proposed by MOL, INA said in a filing to the Zagreb bourse.
The term of office of the three new Hungarian board members will expire on June 30, 2023.
Another three new management board members were appointed as proposed by the Croatian government - Miroslav Skalicki, Hrvoje Simović and Marin Zovko, for a period no longer than six months, until the appointment of board members through public competition.
Croatia's anti-corruption prosecution office, Uskok, said in late August it launched an investigation of five individuals and a local company suspected of reselling natural gas belonging to INA, with damages for INA estimated at 1.046 billion kuna ($135 million/139 million euro). The five individuals are suspected of selling INA's natural gas to the suspected company at prices significantly below market levels between June 2020 and August 27, 2022 in order to then resell the gas to a foreign buyer at market prices.
Uskok does not disclose the names of the suspects until indictments are filed. According to local media reports, the main suspects are Damir Skugor, head of INA’s natural gas retail department, and Josip Surjak, head of Croatia’s national bar association, as well as local company OMS-Ulaganje. All five suspected individuals were arrested and some of them will be detained in custody for a month.
MOL holds a 49.08% stake in INA, while the Croatian government owns 44.84%.
INA's shares last traded on Tuesday on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, closing 0.58% lower at 3,400 kuna
($=7.528 kuna)
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