Croatia, Hungary’s MOL to restart talks over INA

Budapest (MTI) – Croatia and Hungary’s oil company MOL are set to restart talks over the jointly-owned Croatian oil firm INA using an international facilitator at the end of March, Croatia’s economy minister told Reuters on Tuesday.

Both sides have accepted an offer from the United States to help resolve a long running dispute and steer the talks on INA’s future, Ivan Vrdoljak said.

“Each side has agreed to engage the facilitator. If MOL accepts our starting position, which includes a new shareholding agreement and a new strategy for INA’s development, the dispute could be resolved during this government’s mandate,” Vrdoljak said.

Croatia wants management rights in INA redefined so that the government has an equal say in decision-making, something MOL has refused. A source close to the Hungarian side told Reuters earlier this month that MOL sees itself as a strategic rather than a financial investor “and it wants to be able to run the company”.