MOL blasts Austrian deal with Russia

BUDAPEST, Hungary, April 2 (UPI) -- An official with Hungarian energy company MOL lashed out at Austrian rival OMV for acting as a Russian proxy in a deal that included a 21 percent share in MOL.

Cash-rich Russian oil unit Surgutneftegaz bought a 21.2 percent stake of Hungarian oil and gas group MOL in a $1.8 billion deal with OMV. That price tag was twice the market value for the shares, and observers see the deal as a move by Russia to strengthen its foothold in Eastern European markets.

Mol chairman Zsolt Hernadi called the deal suspicious, noting the deal was an aggressive bid by Russia that positioned Austria as a client state.

"Suspicion arises ... that because the Russian investor bought this stake at exactly the input price, it (OMV) was just a front," he told the Financial Times.

Hernadi said the Russian deal "was certainly not a friendly bid," though OMV denied the allegations, saying it was simply looking for a buyer.

The OMV-MOL deal comes amid political upheavals in Hungary, where the global recession contributed to an environment that brought the resignation of Ferenc Gyurcsany from the Hungarian premiership in March.