Croatia will pay 235 million dollars in settlement to MOL over lost arbitration case

Minister Filipovic said that said amount was provided through a revised state budget adopted in late 2022.

In July 2022, Croatia lost an arbitration case before the International Court for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington in which MOL alleged that the Croatian Government did not honor its obligations from a gas business agreement.

Having lost the case, Croatia will have to pay 184 million dollars in damages, out of 1.1 billion dollars sought by MOL in the procedure. Croatia’s objections regarding corruption during MOL’s purchase of INA’s shares were rejected as well. Together with interests, the total to be paid amounts to 235 million dollars.

This is the second arbitration case Croatia has lost to MOL. The first one was launched before the UN Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

Hungarian MOL is the largest shareholder in INA with a 49.08 % stake, followed by the Croatian Government with 44.84 %.