The paper said the state prosecution once again turned down the request by Croatia's anti-corruption office USKOK to interrogate Hernadi as a suspect in the alleged bribing of former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, as a result of which MOL gained management rights in Croatia's INA.

The Hungarian state prosecutor's spokesman, Geza Fazekas, told MTI news agency on Monday that a reply was forwarded to the Hungarian Justice Ministry and that it would be forwarded to Croatia, but did not say what it said.

Nepszabadsag said that USKOK last week summoned Hernadi to be questioned in Zagreb on September 25.

On July 10, USKOK said on its website that it was resuming its investigation of Hernadi on suspicion of bribery, which was suspended last December because he was out of reach to Croatian judicial bodies. The Hungarians had already turned down several Croatian requests to question him.

USKOK said in July that Croatia's accession to the European Union on July 1 provided the conditions for Hernadi to attend a court hearing in this case.

On July 11, MOL reiterated via MTI that the accusations against Hernadi were unfounded, as confirmed by international legal experts, and that the company would continue to cooperate with all authorities in this case.

Last November, Sanader was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment pending appeal for allegedly taking a EUR 5 million bribe from MOL. In its indictment, USKOK claimed the amount was actually EUR 10 million.

MOL holds a 49.1 per cent stake in INA, while the Croatian state owns 44.84%.

Negotiations between the Croatian government and MOL on changing the shareholders' agreement in INA will begin in Zagreb on Wednesday.