BELGRADE'S BEOPETROL COMPANY TO BE SOLD DESPITE INA'S LAWSUIT

BELGRADE, April 22 (Hina) - A lawsuit filed by the Croatian oil company Ina before the Belgrade Commercial Court regarding the property of Belgrade's Beopetrol company, is not an obstacle to the announcement of a public tender for the sale of Beopetrol's shares, the Serbian Privatisation Agency reported Tuesday. #L# The agency believes that if "Ina wins the dispute, it will be compensated according to the value of this property". The tender for the sale of the majority of shares in the Serbian oil company was published in local media and The Financial Times today. The Beopetrol company was established in 1990 after it took over Ina's property in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (or the so-called rump Yugoslavia consisting of Serbia and Montenegro at the time). The country's Constitutional Court last year annulled the Milosevic regime's unconstitutional decision about the confiscation of all property of former republics of the ex- Yugoslavia (SFRJ) located in Serbia. Beopetrol today covers 20 percent of the Serbian market with 187 petrol stations. The nominal value of the offered Beopetrol's majority shares is 2.6 million euros. (hina) lml sb