Hungary's MOL has rejected the proposed date for a new round
of talks with the Croatian government over the joint management of Zagreb-based
oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA-R-A], the Adriatic country's finance ministry
said on Monday.
The two sides are expected to agree on a new date for the
next round of talks, the ministry's press office said in an emailed response to
a SeeNews inquiry.
In May, the ministry told SeeNews the next round of
talks with MOL was expected to take place in June. It added at the time the
Croatian government had sent to MOL a proposal for a new shareholders agreement
for INA's joint management.
MOL owns 49.08% of INA and the Croatian
government controls a further 44.84%.
In August 2013, the Croatian
government said the deteriorating performance of the Zagreb-based company over
the past years and underinvestment in its refineries, among other factors, had
led to a decision to renegotiate the terms of INA's management. A month later
the two sides launched talks on the issue.
On the backdrop of the ongoing
negotiations, MOL filed in November 2013 for international arbitration against
the government in Zagreb at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement
of Investment Disputes for breaching certain of its obligations in relation to
the Hungarian company's investments in Croatia. In January 2014, the Croatian
government filed for arbitration with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The
Hague.
INA's consolidated loss rose 26% to 1.9 billion kuna ($278.3
million/250.4 million euro) in 2014.