April 19 (SeeNews) - Croatia's minister for state assets, Goran Maric, has said the planned purchase of the stake in oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA-R-A] owned by MOL will depend on the price and the buyout model set by the Hungarian energy group, according to media reports.
"The Croatian government has made it clear that it wants to protect its interests in INA and restore its ownership of the company," Hina quoted Maric as saying on Wednesday.
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"We haven't yet reached the final stage of the INA appraisal or specified the buyout model," Maric added but noted that the government still plans to go ahead with the buyout.
On Tuesday evening, the government announced that the Swiss federal court is yet to rule on Croatia's motion to annul the arbitration ruling in the case INA-MOL issued by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in December 2016. The court, however, decided last week not to grant Croatia's motion to postpone the enforcement of the ruling.
In December, UNCITRAL dismissed Croatia's claims of bribery and alleged breaches of a shareholders agreement for INA by MOL. The lawsuit was filed by Croatia in 2014 with the aim to cancel a 2009 deal which saw MOL gain managerial rights at INA without owning a majority stake.
MOL is the biggest shareholder in INA with a 49.08% stake. The Croatian government owns 44.84%, with the remaining 6.08% held by institutional and private investors.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington is also expected to rule on the INA-MOL dispute later this year.