The Government of Croatia is planning to sale shares in HEP, the 100% State-owned energy utility, to fund the purchase stake in INA (Industrija Nafte), the former State-owned Croatian oil and gas company that has been controlled by the Hungarian energy group MOL since 2009. The Government then plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) for a 25% stake in HEP to finance the buy-back the 49.1% of MOL in INA.
The plan to launch an IPO to buy-back MOL's stake in INA came up after a United Nations arbitration commission in December 2016 cleared MOL of bribery in taking control of INA. MOL became INA's main shareholder in 2009 when it raised its stake from 25% (since 2003) to 47.3%, then later to 49.08%. In 2014, the Government of Croatia filed for an arbitration under UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) rules to nullify the 2009 amendment to the shareholder's agreement.