Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor announced on Tuesday that the government would propose amendments to the law regulating the privatisation of the national oil and gas company INA to ensure that no one could own more than 49 per cent of its shares.
"Several amendments will be put forward at a government session on Saturday, but what is crucial is that we will decide that no one will be able to have more than 49 per cent of shares of INA," Kosor told reporters during her visit to Arzano, about 50 kilometres inland from the southern coastal city of Split.
Kosor explained that proposed amendments were prompted by "events relating to the decision by Hanfa."
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 said it had submitted all available information on the investors and the course of trading in INA shares to other authorities in Croatia.
Trading in INA shares on the Zagreb Stock Exchange has intensified after the Hungarian oil company MOL last December published an offer to purchase INA shares from small shareholders for 2,800 kuna per share, after which pension funds started buying INA shares for 2,830 kuna. Then unidentified investors also became involved, collecting shares into custodian accounts.
Some media speculated that MOL was behind the unidentified buyers.
Last week the closing price of INA shares was 4,010.07 kuna.
The single largest shareholder in INA is MOL with 47.26 per cent of the shares, while the Croatian government holds 44.84 per cent.
