In 2002, the Croatian Parliament passed the INA Privatization Act to transform INA from a state-owned enterprise to a privatized company owned and controlled by independent private investors in order to accelerate its development and drive operational efficiencies.

The letter and spirit of the Privatization Act allowed MOL to progressively build up its shareholding in INA between 2003 and 2011, becoming the largest shareholder of the company with a 49.1% stake. The Government of Croatia became the second largest investor with 44.84%.

Once it became its largest shareholder, MOL was in a position to gain management control of INA. This was formalized in the First Amendment to the Shareholders Agreement in January 2009.

It is important to note that despite being a minority shareholder without management control of INA, the Croatian Government successfully negotiated veto power and special rights over the future ownership of INA.