Bosnia region to probe MOL/INA fuel retailer buy

MOSTAR, Bosnia, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation government on Thursday ordered a probe into the sale of fuel retailer Energopetrol to a consortium of Hungary's MOL MOL.BU and Croatia's INA INA.ZA.

"The cabinet tasked the attorney's office, privatisation agency and justice, finance and energy ministries to give their opinion about the validity of the contract, status of bank guarantees and its eventual annexes within a week-time," Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic told a news conference.

The privatisation of the indebted oil retailer in 2007 was regarded as a major privatisation deal in the Muslim-Croat federation.

Under the deal, the consortium of oil and gas group MOL and INA (HINAq.L) paid 10.2 million Bosnian marka ($7.8 million) for a 67 percent stake in Energopetrol and pledged a further 150 million marka investment.

"We have some doubts about the contract validity," Mujezinovic said.

He said the cabinet would set up a panel "that would pick an international auditor within a month-time to analyse the fulfilment of the contract obligations and investment terms".

"The government will decide what further steps it will take once it received the experts' opinion," said Mujezinovic, who has previously said the consortium had invested only 6 million marka since the deal was signed.

He also said some documents relating to the acquisition of Energopetrol had not been made available to the current government, since the deal was signed during a previous mandate, although he did not elaborate.

Mujezinovic said last month the cabinet may terminate the deal after several commissions presented negative reports about the pledged investments. [ID:nLT424454]