Mol Refuses Allegations of Market Manipulation in INA Share Buy
Mol Nyrt., Hungary’s largest refiner, rejected allegations that it secretly purchased shares in its Croatian subsidiary INA Industrija Nafte d.d. and manipulated the market.
“With respect to recent media publications about alleged manipulation with INA shares, Mol firmly refuses all accusations of market manipulation,” the Budapest-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. “Recent attempts to damage Mol’s reputation are unlawful and completely unacceptable.”
Croatia’s market regulator suspended trade in INA on the Zagreb bourse and launched an investigation into recent trades in the company’s stock “following significant trading by foreign investors,” the regulator said on March 28. Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said on April 2 that INA shares were traded “in a non-transparent way, and there are allegations of money laundering.” The investigation will focus on funds in Slovakia, Hungary and Cyprus, Kosor said.
Mol holds 47.26 percent of the Croatian oil and gas company, while the Croatian government owns 44.84 percent. Mol won the controlling rights of INA in a 2009 partnership agreement with the government. The Hungarian company on Dec. 3 offered to buy the outstanding INA shares traded in Zagreb. It obtained 0.1 percent of the total stock.
INA shares have jumped 134 percent since Mol’s offer, closing at 4,011 kuna ($771) per share on March 25, before trading was suspended.
The Croatian government is planning to cap individual holdings in INA at 49 percent after the investigation is concluded, Kosor said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Edith Balazs in Budapest at ebalazs1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net jagomez@bloomberg.net
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