The Croatian national anti-corruption office (USKOK) has resumed an investigation into the Hungarian oil giant MOL board chairman Zsolt Hernadi over his role in giving bribes to former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in exchange for enabling MOL to acquire management rights in INA.
Sanader has already been sentenced to 10 years for those murky dealings, and this court ruling is subject to appeal. The ex-premier denied all charges, claiming that he was a victim of politically-motivated persecution.
USKOK earlier launched a probe against Hernadi, but had to suspend it as this Hungarian executive was out of reach of Croatian prosecutorial authorities, while Hungary declined to question him about this matter, citing national interests.
However, since Croatia's admission to the European Union on 1 July, "new prerequisites have been created for making sure that the suspect may be present at hearings", USKOK reported on its web site on Wednesday evening.
USKOK thus has forwarded a request to Hungary to provide the suspect with the summons for his first hearing, according to the Croatian Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime.
Croatia's prosecutorial authorities will now wait for the response from Hungary before deciding on activating an European Arrest Warrant.
Last November, the Zagreb County Court imposed the prison sentence of 10 years on Sanader in the Hypo Alpe Adria Bank and INA-MOL cases.
