Peters & Peters acts for the Hungarian national oil and gas company, MOL, which in 2009 entered two agreements with the Republic of Croatia concerning the management of the Croatian national oil and gas company, INA. Croatia subsequently alleged that the agreements had been procured as the result of a bribe which it claimed MOL had offered its then Prime Minister, and started to attack the agreements using various legal means.

The dispute involves a large number of complex issues, including international and EU law, domestic criminal liability under both Croatian and Hungarian law, international standards governing the conduct of criminal investigations and prosecutions, mutual legal assistance, extradition, the granting of safe passage, the issuance of Red Notices, and the enforceability of arbitral awards. We advise on all fronts. In 2016, we were successful in challenging the imposition of the INTERPOL Red Notice against the company’s CEO, and in 2017/18 we were part of the international legal team which obtained an UNCITRAL arbitral award dismissing Croatia’s claims, which was upheld by the Swiss Supreme Court. We currently act in the ICSID arbitration proceedings in Washington DC. We have advised the company on bringing a challenge against INTERPOL, and we act for the CEO in his trial in absentia in Zagreb and his claim before the ECtHR in Strasbourg. In 2018 we represented the company’s interests before the CJEU and have also advised on further potential proceedings in Hungary. This is a highly unusual, high-profile and challenging matter, which has international political and legal implications.