"We are surprised by the speculations around the significance of our offer. We believe its importance is highly overrated," reads the statement issued by MOL which on December 2 announced an offer to buy shares held by the small shareholders in INA at a price of HRK 2,800 per share.

The price is the same as the price at which MOL bought INA's shares at a voluntary public auction in 2008, and it is around 60 percent higher than the price at which INA shares were traded on the Zagreb Stock Exchange recently.

The Hungarian company says in the statement that its offer is part of its long-term, publicly known strategy to further increase its ownership of INA.

It is also a transparent sale opportunity for more than 30,000 small shareholders, most importantly for the thousands of current and former INA employees, who until now, due to the sharp decrease in the share price since our voluntary offer, could not realise the real value of INA shares, MOL says.

It also recalls that MOL and the Croatian government manage INA based on their joint shareholding of 92 percent and the Shareholders' Agreement, signed in 2003 and amended in 2009.

"Regardless of whether MOL owns more or less than 50 percent of shares, the rights of the Government in INA are protected by the Shareholders' Agreement, and shall not be affected in any way by the outcome of our offer," reads the statement.

The Croatian government will continue to have, among other things, the right to nominate representatives to INA's decision-making bodies, the right of veto in strategic matters, the pre-emption right over MOL-owned INA shares, and the buy-back option in case of hostile takeover of MOL, reads the statement.

MOL emphasises in its statement that its interests are the same as those of the Croatian government - to make INA a strong, competitive and successful Croatian company generating more value, more tax revenues, more investments and more jobs.

Recalling that MOL has proven on several occasions that it is a reliable partner to INA and Croatia, the company says that it has invested directly and through INA more than HRK 20 billion in the Croatian economy and that during the crisis in 2008, it helped INA resolve its serious liquidity situation and thus safeguard directly 16,000 jobs in INA.

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said this past Friday that the government was close to a solution regarding MOL's offer and that the solution would be in line with Croatia's strategic interests.

The Economy Ministry, too, issued a statement on the same day, saying that the government did not waive the right and possibility to adopt other legal and institutional solutions regarding the status of the contractual sides, as well as regarding the protection of its strategic interests in the energy sector.

The statement said the Croatian government would comply with and implement all formal agreements and contracts, as well as informal agreements with all investors whose goals and plans coincide with its goals in terms of protection of ownership, investment and management in the energy sector.

MOL currently holds 47.155 percent of INA's stock, the Croatian government holds a 44.836 percent stake, and institutional and private investors hold 8.009 percent of the company shares, to which MOL's offer refers.

After MOL's announcement, the agency for the supervision of financial services HANFA suspended trading in INA shares on the Zagreb Stock Exchange until the public was correctly informed about the circumstances of MOL's offer. The suspension is still in force.