The Hungarian oil company MOL said on Tuesday there had been no payments or payment agreements with any actor or decision-maker on the Croatian political scene, either directly or indirectly, either before or after the shareholders' agreement on the Croatian oil company INA.
MOL strongly rejects all such allegations and accusations, the company said in a statement, announcing strict legal measures against anyone spreading them.
The statement was issued after Croatian media reported that Croatia's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) had launched a new investigation into former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on suspicion that he had received a EUR 10 million bribe from MOL Board chairman Zsolt Hernadi in exchange for management rights in INA.
They are reportedly also suspected of agreeing to separate INA's gas business from INA by leaving MOL its profitable part, while the government would manage the non-profitable part.
Sanader was allegedly helped in the deal by the then Deputy PM Damir Polancec, who is also under investigation.
According to the media, Hernadi and Sanader signed a consulting services contract based on which the bribe was paid to Sanader. The money was allegedly transferred from two MOL companies on Cyprus into the account of a Swiss company co-owned by Sanader's friend Robert Jezic, the owner of the DIOKI company whom USKOK is investigating in another corruption case.
The media speculate that the Croatian State Prosecutor's Office is preparing a request for Hernadi's arrest and extradition.
