Antal Balogh, chairman of the works council at Rotary Rt, the drilling subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Rt, accused the oil company of selling off the international assets of Rotary for peanuts.

The state-run oil company decided to sell Rotary's foreign business last June and picked Croatian INA-Crosco as victor of the tender.

Balogh cited Croatian press reports, which claimed that the subsidiary was bought for $7 million, only a fraction of its real market value.

MOL, which has been tight-lipped about the sale price, denied the charges.

(BBJ 07.vii.03)