October 12 (SeeNews) - The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has rejected a request by the Croatian government to review a ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) which dismissed Zagreb's claims against Hungarian energy group MOL in a case concerning Croatian oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA], Croatian media reported on Wednesday.
MOL is the largest shareholder in INA with a 49.08% stake, followed by the Croatian government with 44.84%.
The Swiss top court has decided that it will not review the UNCITRAL ruling, public TV broadcaster HRT reported. In December 2021, the Croatian government decided to seek a review of the December 2016 ruling in favour of MOL by Geneva-based UNCITRAL.
The Croatian government said back then it would seek an annulment of amendments to the agreement on relations between the shareholders of INA and a master agreement on the gas business, both signed in 2009. Croatia argues the amendments were obtained through bribery, in the light of the new legal context created by the Croatian Supreme Court's final verdict that former prime minister Ivo Sanader is guilty of taking bribes from MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi during the privatisation of INA.
INA's shares last traded on October 7, when they closed 3.55% higher at 3,500 kuna ($450/465 euro) on the Zagreb bourse.
(1 euro=7.528 Croatian kuna)
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