By Veronika Gulyas
BUDAPEST--Hungary's largest oil and gas company MOL Nyrt.
(MOL.BU) laid the cornerstone of a butadiene plant in a move that
may decrease Hungary's dependency on imports of the chemical, the
company's chief executive said Tuesday.
MOL is set to invest 120 million euros ($162.7 million) in the
plant of its petrochemical arm TVK, part of the company's
300-billion-forint ($1.37 billion) three-year investment
scheme.
Production of butadiene, a component used in synthetic rubber
production, will be supplied to tire makers across Hungary, MOL CEO
Zsolt Hernadi said at an event in Tiszaujvaros, northeast
Hungary.
The butadiene plant could help boost TVK's profits, because
production of the chemical is more profitable than of other polymer
products produced by TVK, MOL said in a statement.
The new plant will have an annual output of 130,000 metric tons
from the second quarter of 2015, MOL said.
MOL was trading 0.6% higher at HUF15,290 at 1116 GMT
Tuesday.
Mr. Hernadi was speaking in public for the first time since a
Croatian court issued an international arrest warrant against him.
He is wanted for a hearing related to a bribery case. Croatia
earlier sentenced a former prime minister Ivo Sanader, saying he
had accepted bribes to allow MOL management to have rights over
Croatian peer INA d.d (INA.ZG).
Mr. Hernadi didn't comment on the case. MOL is focusing on
business as usual and is committed to solving any problems and
issues that come up, he said.
MOL previously said Hungarian authorities had dismissed the
allegations against MOL, which now holds a 49.1% share of INA.
Hungary's government holds a 24.6% stake in MOL.
Write to Veronika Gulyas at veronika.gulyas@wsj.com