INA

Croatia and the Hungarian energy company MOL started an arbitration process before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris on Monday over the management rights of the Croatian energy company INA.

The court in Zagreb on Friday confirmed that Sanader would go to jail but reduced the sentence from ten years to eight and a half.

Sanader, who was the country's premier from 2003 to 2009, was convicted of taking bribes from Hungarian oil group MOL in exchange for allowing it to take a dominant position in Croatian oil firm INA.

“The indictment against Hernadi has been confirmed and he will be tried in absentia,” Zagreb county court spokesperson Kresimir Devcic told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

The alleged graft took place in 2008-9, when the Croatian government put its shares of the state oil company INA on the market. MOL bought 22.15 per cent of INA’s shares, thus becoming the biggest stakeholder.

Balkan energy companies explore regional, EU markets

EU membership means entering a large, liberalised energy market, and regional companies need to prepare, experts say.

Croatia's INA has been expanding its oil exploration activities domestically and offshore. [INA]