The anti-corruption office USKOK has not yet officially contacted the Hungarian State Prosecutor's Office concerning the request to question MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi concerning the alleged alleged payment of a bribe to former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader to give MOL management rights in Croatian peer INA, the Hungarian Nepszabadsag daily reported on Wednesday.
On July 10, USKOK said on its website that it had resumed an investigation into the Hungarian oil giant MOL board chairman Hernadi over his role in giving bribes to Sanader in exchange for enabling MOL to acquire management rights in INA. The investigation into Hernedi was suspended in December 2012 as this Hungarian executive was unavailable to Croatian prosecutorial authorities, while Hungary declined to question him about this matter, citing national interests.
USKOK, however, noted that Croatia's European Union accession on July 1 had created conditions that would ensure that Hernadi would be present at hearings related to the bribery case that landed Croatia's formerPM Sanader a ten-year prison sentence.
Spokeswoman for the Hungarian Chief Prosecutor Raulla Merhej told the Nepszabadsag daily on Wednesday that USKOK had not yet sent an official request.
Following USKOK's announcement, MOL issued a statement on 11 July saying that accusations of corruption against Hernadi were unfounded.
MOL told the Hungarian news agency MTI that it maintains its position that the accusations are unfounded -- as confirmed by international legal experts -- and the company would continue to cooperate with all authorities in the matter.
Last November, a Croatian court sentenced Sanader on corruption charges involving the alleged payment of a bribe of millions of euros to give MOL management rights in Croatian peer INA.
MOL's stake in INA is just short of a majority. The other big shareholder in the company is the Croatian state.
