Within the next two months the consortium is to present a detailed model for the continuation of privatisation of INA, Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec said.
One of the criteria that decided the choice of Merill Lynch-RBA was that this consortium offered the shortest time frame to propose details of a privatisation model, Polancec added.
Six consortiums applied for the position and three were short-listed -- Merill Lynch-RBA, HSBC-Zagrebacka-Banka-Intercapital and Citibank-CAIB.
The main task of the financial adviser will be to reassess INA's value and propose the best model for further privatisation, which provides for the initial sale of 15 per cent of shares on the stock exchange.
The financial adviser will also assist in defining terms of the sale of seven per cent of shares to present and former employees and the transfer of seven per cent of shares to the War Veterans Fund.
During the first stage of privatisation, 25 per cent of INA's shares plus one was sold to the Hungarian oil company MOL for 505 million US dollars.