After three and a half years of difficult negotiations, the agreement on the takeover of a 67 percent interest in the Sarajevo-based oil company was signed by INA CEO Tomislav Dragicevic, MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi, the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ahmet Hadzipasic, and Energopetrol director Namik Busatlic.
The signing ceremony was also attended by Croatian Finance Minister Ivan Suker.
The purchase of Energopetrol, which has the most developed network of petrol stations in the country, will cost the INA-MOL consortium around 112.5 million euros, including 37.5 million for the company's shares and liabilities, and 75 million for its upgrading in the next three years.
The government of the Muslim-Croat entity will keep a 22 percent interest, while small shareholders will keep 11 percent of the company's shares. They too will have to invest in Energopetrol's development.
INA CEO Dragicevic said that the implementation of the agreement would be to the benefit of all Bosnian citizens because it would facilitate oil supply.
Zsolt Hernadi of MOL said that the purchase of Energopetrol could be the most important step in the modernisation of Bosnia's oil industry.