<p>A Croatian court on Monday sentenced former prime minister Ivo Sanader to six years in jail and the boss of Hungary's energy giant MOL to two years for bribery.</p>.<p>The long-running legal battle has been a thorn in relations between the two countries for years and harkens back to a 2009 deal that gave MOL control over the Croatian oil and gas group INA.</p>.<p>Sanader -- already serving time for a separate graft case -- and MOL's CEO Zsolt Hernadi were found guilty of "receiving and giving a bribe".</p>.<p>The deal was to give then-PM Sanader 10 million euros ($11 million) in exchange for boosting MOL's control over the Croatian energy group, said Judge Maja Stampar Stipic.</p>.<p>MOL, whose main shareholder is the Budapest government, has a 49 per cent INA stake, while Zagreb holds a 44 per cent stake.</p>.<p>"As the top state official, Sanader ... jeopardised Croatia's vital economic interests," prosecutor Tonci Petkovic said in his final statement.</p>.<p>Defence attorneys for CEO Hernadi, who was tried in absentia, argued that the prosecutors did not prove an "incriminating tie" between the two defendants, who can appeal the ruling.</p>.<p>"We are disappointed but not surprised: this is not the first unfair trial to be held in Croatia," MOL said in statement voicing continued to support Hernadi.</p>.<p>Croatia has unsuccessfully sought the CEO's arrest for years, with Hungary's refusal to extradite him a source of tension between the EU neighbours.</p>.<p>Sanader, whose lawyers said they planned an appeal, was first found guilty of the charge in 2012, but the country's top court overturned his eight-and-a-half-year jail sentence and called for a re-trial for procedural reasons.</p>.<p>Prime minister from 2003 to 2009 with the conservative HDZ party, Sanader has been trailed by scandals since he left office.</p>.<p>In April he was jailed to serve a six-year sentence in a separate corruption conviction for taking more than two million euros ($2.2 million) in kickbacks from a real estate deal.</p>.<p>In 2018 he was also sentenced to two and half years for war profiteering, and acquitted of abuse of power charges in another trial.</p>.<p>Sanader is the highest official to be charged with corruption in Croatia since independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.</p>.<p>Tackling corruption was key for the country's successful bid to join the European Union in 2013.</p>
<p>A Croatian court on Monday sentenced former prime minister Ivo Sanader to six years in jail and the boss of Hungary's energy giant MOL to two years for bribery.</p>.<p>The long-running legal battle has been a thorn in relations between the two countries for years and harkens back to a 2009 deal that gave MOL control over the Croatian oil and gas group INA.</p>.<p>Sanader -- already serving time for a separate graft case -- and MOL's CEO Zsolt Hernadi were found guilty of "receiving and giving a bribe".</p>.<p>The deal was to give then-PM Sanader 10 million euros ($11 million) in exchange for boosting MOL's control over the Croatian energy group, said Judge Maja Stampar Stipic.</p>.<p>MOL, whose main shareholder is the Budapest government, has a 49 per cent INA stake, while Zagreb holds a 44 per cent stake.</p>.<p>"As the top state official, Sanader ... jeopardised Croatia's vital economic interests," prosecutor Tonci Petkovic said in his final statement.</p>.<p>Defence attorneys for CEO Hernadi, who was tried in absentia, argued that the prosecutors did not prove an "incriminating tie" between the two defendants, who can appeal the ruling.</p>.<p>"We are disappointed but not surprised: this is not the first unfair trial to be held in Croatia," MOL said in statement voicing continued to support Hernadi.</p>.<p>Croatia has unsuccessfully sought the CEO's arrest for years, with Hungary's refusal to extradite him a source of tension between the EU neighbours.</p>.<p>Sanader, whose lawyers said they planned an appeal, was first found guilty of the charge in 2012, but the country's top court overturned his eight-and-a-half-year jail sentence and called for a re-trial for procedural reasons.</p>.<p>Prime minister from 2003 to 2009 with the conservative HDZ party, Sanader has been trailed by scandals since he left office.</p>.<p>In April he was jailed to serve a six-year sentence in a separate corruption conviction for taking more than two million euros ($2.2 million) in kickbacks from a real estate deal.</p>.<p>In 2018 he was also sentenced to two and half years for war profiteering, and acquitted of abuse of power charges in another trial.</p>.<p>Sanader is the highest official to be charged with corruption in Croatia since independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.</p>.<p>Tackling corruption was key for the country's successful bid to join the European Union in 2013.</p>