Less than 50 Experts from the MOL Group at INA

At INA, less than 50 experts from the MOL Group are employed, and all MOL Group employees who are required to pay taxes in Croatia in accordance with applicable tax laws and practices pay their taxes in Croatia, INA responded today when asked for a comment on the claims made during the session of the Investigative Commission for the Privatization of INA that more than 300 Hungarians are working in the company without residence and work permits.

INA also confirmed today that inspection bodies are conducting checks at the company. "A certain number of experts from the MOL Group, who come from various countries, mainly Hungary and Slovakia, are employed at INA to fill existing skill and experience needs with the aim of achieving faster development of INA," INA stated. They note that their number is significantly lower than that reported in the media, specifically referring to less than 50 individuals.

They add that the number of foreign experts at INA will decrease over the next few years as they expect to be replaced by ‘local’ people. For comparison, they state that approximately 10,000 employees are employed at INA d.d., and over 16,000 in the INA Group overall, making the number of 50 foreigners less than 0.5 percent of the total number of INA Group employees.

"What we particularly want to emphasize is that all MOL Group employees who are required to pay taxes in Croatia in accordance with applicable tax laws and practices pay their taxes in Croatia," INA states, adding that their status is regulated in accordance with domestic and international rules and laws. "At this moment, we can confirm that inspection bodies are conducting checks as stated at INA. The company is open to cooperation on this issue in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Republic of Croatia," they say from INA.

They also state that salaries for INA’s management have been calculated through an external company for years and that engaging external companies for certain jobs is a common business practice. They add that data on management salaries is cumulatively published in INA’s Annual Report, which is also available on the company’s website.

It was confirmed last night by the chief state inspector Kruno Kovačević that the State Inspectorate entered INA after Goran Marić, a member of the parliamentary Investigative Commission for the Privatization of INA, stated that more than 300 Hungarians are working in the company without the necessary residence and work permits. Marić claimed during the Commission’s session on Tuesday that more than 300 Hungarian managers are working at INA without the required permits and receive their salaries in Hungary. (H)