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Hungarian gov't miffed over Croatian arrest warrant for oil firm chief

03 October 2013 04:07 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Hungarian government issued a statement on Wednesday, suggesting it was annoyed and angered by an international arrest warrant issued by a Croatian court for Zsolt Hernadi, CEO of Hungarian oil company MOL, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

As MOL's largest shareholder, the Hungarian government has a stake in the outcome of a dispute between Croatian authorities and MOL. Croatia claims that MOL management gave a significant bribe to former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to gain the upper hand in managing Croatia's oil company, INA. MOL holds over 49 percent of INA shares, according to INA's website.

A primary court found Sanader guilty of accepting bribes from several major companies, including MOL. Sanader denies wrongdoing and claims the charges have been politically motivated.

Both Hernadi and the company were thoroughly investigated by the Hungarian authorities, said a MOL statement, which found no unethical or unlawful activities were committed. In Hungary, the investigation against Hernadi was formally terminated since no criminal offense was identified.

The Hungarian government claimed that Croatia, after having invited MOL in to rescue INA, was trying to force MOL out of the picture after it had invested over 3 billion euros (4 billion U.S. dollars) in the company and set it back on its feet.

It suggested that "procedures initiated by Croatian judicial institutions against certain members of MOL's management" are merely means of exerting pressure and "are unacceptable."

The Hungarian government's briefing implied that if the Croatian government wants the return of INA it should buy out MOL's shares.

It is unacceptable for "a strategic partner that makes significant investments [and] is first chosen through a public tender, thus saving Croatia's most important enterprise, INA" to then be "intimidated using extra-economic means in an attempt to regain control of INA without a buy-out," the statement said.

Meanwhile, a legal analysis of the international warrant suggests Hungary may not have to comply, given that Hernadi has already been legally exonerated by authorities in his own country.