INA-MOL: We have fulfilled all obligations from the recapitalization agreement of Energopetrol

The INA-MOL consortium has fully met all obligations under the recapitalization agreement of Sarajevo’s Energopetrol, INA reported on Tuesday, responding to a recent article in Sarajevo’s Dnevni avaz, which stated that the consortium is extracting money from Energopetrol.

INA states that the independent international auditing firm Deloitte, in its report prepared at the request of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, confirmed that the INA-MOL consortium has fulfilled all obligations from the recapitalization agreement.

“The consortium has invested slightly more than 150 million convertible marks (KM) in the development of Energopetrol, of which 62.3 million KM was invested in the modernization of Energopetrol’s retail network, and new investments will continue in the upcoming period,” INA emphasizes.

They also note that the modern appearance of Energopetrol’s gas stations today, as well as the quality of services offered at them, testify to the consortium’s commitment to the growth and development of Energopetrol.

They emphasize that the accusations regarding the alleged profits of the INA-MOL consortium are “completely inaccurate.” “The mentioned amount of 2 billion KM represents the revenue of the company that was exclusively managed by Energopetrol, not the profit from which shareholders allegedly benefited,” INA states.

Additionally, they add that the “INA-MOL consortium is ready to resolve all open issues in a constructive dialogue with the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to ensure the long-term successful operation of Energopetrol.”    

Dnevni avaz reported last Wednesday that the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina believes that the Croatian-Hungarian consortium INA-MOL has not fulfilled the obligations assumed under the contract for the purchase of the Sarajevo oil company Energopetrol and has further harmed it by misrepresenting investments, while allegedly making a profit of over 200 million euros. The newspaper states that the INA-MOL consortium has not fulfilled the obligations assumed under the contract for the sale of the majority state stake in Energopetrol from 2006, nor has it invested 150 million convertible marks (76.7 million euros) as agreed.

In their response on Tuesday, INA states that although the author of the disputed text in Dnevni avaz claims to have contacted the INA-MOL consortium to verify the allegations made, such an inquiry has not been received through the official channels of the public relations departments of INA, MOL, and Energopetrol.