Sanader verdict emboldens Croatia to revisit INA shareholding deal with MOL - media

On Tuesday, the Zagreb city court found Sanader guilty of taking bribes from Austria's Hypo Alpe Adria Bank in the 1990s and from MOL in 2008 in exchange for ensuring controlling rights in INA.

MOL said on Thursday it rejects categorically the accusations leveled against it as part of the case against Sanader and will review its position further once Sanader's defence decides whether to appeal and once a final verdict on the case has been issued.

The government is unhappy with the shareholding arrangement and will insist that the deal is revisited and there is really no point in wasting time to see what the final verdict against Sanader will be, state-run broadcaster HRT (www.hrt.hr) , quoted Slavko Linic as saying on Wednesday.

MOL owned 47.26% of INA as of end-December 2011 with the government in Zagreb controlling 44.84%.

Linic further stressed that, as an INA shareholder, the Croatian government will insists on investments in the company's natural gas business and in oil wells in Croatia and on keeping INA's both domestic refineries in operation and expanding this part of the production operations.