The European Commission said on Wednesday that the bill under which no one other than the Croatian government would be able to hold more than 49 per cent of shares in the oil and gas company INA was not in accordance with EU legislation.
Our services have analysed the bill and found that the bill in its present form does not comply with EU legislation, and we expect our Croatian partners to take this into consideration, the Enlargement Commissioner's spokesman Peter Stano said in Brussels.
Stano welcomed the fact that the Croatian authorities had consulted the Commission before passage of the bill.
Amendments to the INA Privatisation Act were proposed for a limited period of time pending completion of the trial of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, who is suspected of receiving 10 million euros in bribes from the Hungarian oil company MOL in return for making it possible for MOL to secure a dominant position in the Croatian company and to divest its unprofitable natural gas business.
