INA-MOL Case: Suvad Osmanagić Claims to Have Saved 64 Million KM, No Comment from Croatia

No one from INA-MOL wished to confirm the announcements by Suvad Osmanagić, advisor to the Federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalić, that INA-MOL will withdraw the arbitration against the Government of FBiH, worth around 64 million KM.

When asked by journalists of the Patria news agency if it is true that INA-MOL is abandoning the arbitration, the Corporate Communications Sector of the Croatian-Hungarian consortium briefly responded: "We have no comment on your inquiry".

Osmanagić announced that an agreement should be officially signed on June 10th in the Government of FBiH, by which INA-MOL would confirm the withdrawal from arbitration and put an end to this process. The consortium is expected to offer terms for an out-of-court settlement. He did not specify what the out-of-court settlement between the Government of FBiH and the INA-MOL consortium entails.

It is difficult to believe that the consortium will agree to pay 64 million KM just like that, without receiving an equally valuable counter-service from the Government!

INA-MOL initiated arbitration proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris in 2013. The company claims they were not aware of the entire situation at Energopetrol at the time of purchasing the stake in the BiH company.

The INA-MOL consortium purchased a majority stake of 67 percent in Energopetrol from the Government of the Federation of BiH in 2006. The problem arose when employees of Energopetrol filed lawsuits due to unpaid salaries and contributions during the time Energopetrol was state-owned.

It turned out that these lawsuits were worth as much as 64 million KM. INA-MOL claims they did not account for these lawsuits when purchasing Energopetrol. Three years ago, the consortium initiated arbitration proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

Dnevni avaz reported on May 25th this year that the Croatian-Hungarian Consortium had abandoned the arbitration. The newspaper states that representatives of this consortium visited Sarajevo and informed the representatives of the Government of the Federation about abandoning the arbitration.

Suvad Osmanagić, advisor to Prime Minister Fadil Novalić and president of the Working Group that led the negotiations with INA-MOL, also confirmed to Avaz that INA-MOL is withdrawing the arbitration against the Government of FBiH. He said that the group negotiating with INA-MOL saved the Government from a huge burden, writes Patria.