Croatia's INA plans $3.6bn, four-year investment

ZAGREB: Croatian oil and gas group INA plans to invest 20 billion kuna ($3.6 billion) in the next four years to boost its position in the Balkan markets and strengthen exploration and production.

"Our goal is to make INA a leader not only in Croatia but also on the regional market. I believe that the strategy we adopted will make it happen," INA's Chief Executive, Zoltan Aldott, said in a statement on Friday.

Relations between the Croatian government and INA's biggest shareholder, Hungary's MOL, have been strained in the past year over management rights.

MOL has a 47.46 percent stake and an option for another 1.6 percent in INA, while the Croatian government owns 44.84 percent.

INA said two-thirds of the overall investments will be focused on Croatia. It includes further modernisation of two refineries INA owns in Croatia, one in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka and another in the central town of Sisak. Their joint output is some 160,000 barrels per day.

The Croatian government has complained at MOL's apparent reluctance to invest in modernisation of the Sisak refinery, saying MOL's eventual goal was to shut it down.

INA is one of the biggest companies in Croatia and has both upstream and downstream segments. It is involved in gas and oil exploration and production at home, in Africa and the Middle East.

Croatian market regulator Hanfa suspended trading in INA in April, accusing MOL of sending misleading signals to the market while trying to gain a majority in INA. It also filed criminal charges of insider trading against unknown individuals from INA and MOL.

Croatia indicted former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader for allegedly taking a bribe to secure MOL a dominant position in INA. MOL and Sanader both deny the charges in the case currently being heard in court.

Copyright Reuters, 2011