Croatian Economy Minister Djuro Popijac said on Wednesday the government wanted to see who was behind the purchase of Croatian oil company INA shares, stressing that the government would use every possible mechanism to protect the interests of INA's strategic partners - the Croatian government and the Hungarian oil company MOL.
Popijac was asked by Croatian reporters in Jerusalem to comment on an announcement that on Saturday, the Croatian government would move amendments to the law on the privatisation of INA whereby no one would be able to have a stake exceeding 49 per cent.
Popijac said the initiative was aimed at preventing a hostile takeover, saying the government did not know who was actually buying INA stock.
The government wants to see who is behind the takeover, but it is not discriminating against anyone, he said, claiming the government's reaction had nothing to do with an initiative moved by the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) in December.
Popijac said Croatia's regulatory agency Hanfa did the right thing when it temporarily suspended trading in INA shares.
"I think other state bodies and institutions will do their job and eventually we will see who is behind all this, whose money it is. We know that more than EUR 75 million was invested in those shares," he said, adding the government wanted to make sure that money was not being laundered.
"We don't assume that MOL, as our strategic partner, is doing anything that is not in line with the law," he said.
The Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa) on Monday suspended trading in INA shares on the Zagreb Stock Exchange until the close of trading on April 1. The agency said that while monitoring trading in INA shares it had found significant trading by foreign investors, so it had asked relevant foreign regulators for necessary information in order to ensure transparent trading, protect investors and ensure regular and orderly trading on the capital market.
Hanfa also said it had submitted all available information on the investors and the course of trading in INA shares to other authorities in Croatia.
Asked to comment on Hanfa's suspension, MOL today said it did not comment on Hanfa's decisions.
Asked about the Croatian government's announcement of legislative amendments to prevent anyone from having more than 49 per cent of INA stock, MOL said it could not comment at the moment, as it had not seen the proposal.
We continue to believe that owning 50 per cent of the stock is of limited importance given the existing shareholders' agreement, said MOL spokesman Domokos Szollar.
