Causa MOL

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The problem of the Hungarian energy company MOL , which, contrary to EU guidelines, blocked negotiations with its Austrian minority shareholder OMV to acquire a larger share of the shares, was described in the newspapers and in the EU Commission as the MOL cause .

The English Financial Times devoted the entire front page to the case, which Hungarian politicians regard as protection of Magyar self-sufficiency wishes, on September 25, 2007 and sees the cause as a serious violation of the free movement of economic and capital within the European Union.

Even if the EU Commission had a certain understanding for the fears of a relatively small country being taken over, the commissioners responsible for the economy had to urgently warn Hungary to give up the blockade policy. Because the Hungarian government put the negotiations started in 2006 on hold for reasons of national law , in 2007 OMV offered the shareholders a direct takeover at a share price of 32,000 forints . Overall, the targeted majority of shares would cost OMV around 10 billion euros, which the leading English business paper regards as a reasonable price.

With its demarche to Budapest, the EU Commission countered the increasing attempts by some EU states to shape their energy policy predominantly in the sense of neo- nationalism . So far, these countries have mainly included Spain and France , whose governments had prevented two large transfers of shares by energy companies abroad last year. Spain negotiated with a consortium from Italy in 2007 , while the French EDF group stuck to its unilateral acquisition policy .

Hungary described the price offered by OMV to the shareholders as far inadequate, but above all stumbled upon their direct offer to the shareholders. In an interview with ORF (25/26 Sept.) , the long-standing, former EU Commissioner Franz Fischler saw the problem as typical of the increasingly nationalistic economic policy, which is likely to be a reaction to the increasing disadvantages of globalization for smaller states .

2008/09: After a takeover offer to the Hungarian mineral oil company MOL in August 2008 was rejected by the latter and the EU Commission imposed strict conditions for approval, OMV decided in March 2009 to sell its 21.2% stake in MOL for 1 To sell 4 billion euros to the Russian company Surgutneftegas .

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