The Croatian government will buy Hungarian oil group MOL's 49% stake in oil and gas company INA, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Dec. 24.

"The Hungarian side has been informed about this decision," Plenkovic told reporters. The acquisition will not harm Croatia's public debt, he said, without giving further details.

INA's shares last traded at 2,925 Croatian kuna (US$405.26), which puts the value of MOL's stake in INA at around 14.5 billion Croatian kuna (US$2.01 billion).

MOL and INA have locked horns for years over control of the Croatian oil company. MOL has certain management control at INA under an agreement with the Croatian state, which holds 45% of INA.

Plenkovic said the buyout was in Croatia's best interests after a UN arbitration commission ruled that evidence presented by Croatia in a lawsuit against MOL was insufficient to prove that certain contracts made in 2009 were the result of corrupt activities.

He gave no further details of the lawsuit or the ruling, or why it had prompted Croatia's decision to buy MOL's INA stake.

MOL had indicated it was willing to consider selling its stake in INA if the two were unable to resolve issues around future cooperation. (US$1 = 7.2175 kuna)