Although government officials were taken aback by MOL’s offer to minority shareholders of INA, the authorities did not remain idle for long. There is no official confirmation for this, but a pension fund manager hinted to us that the state is ‘still fighting’.
When asked whether a counter-offer to minority shareholders is a done deal, he responded equally cautiously:
– I would not comment on whether Adris is in the game or not (vecernji.hr reports that from a reliable source it learns that pension funds intend to buy INA shares as soon as Hanfa allows such trading, and Rovinj’s Adris is also in the game), in any case, at this moment it is still too early to claim that everything is agreed – the fund manager briefly replied to us. When and if everything is resolved regarding the purchase of shares and with Hanfa, the question of ‘counter-services’ remains. It is, after all, hard to believe that pension funds will buy INA shares at a significantly higher price than what it is on the stock market just out of patriotism (or job preservation). (Gordana Gelenčer)