The PPD gas company on Wednesday refuted Bridge MP Nikola Grmoja's claim that the Petrokemija fertiliser producer paid penalties for not taking over contracted quantities of gas, saying that PPD wrote them off and that Petrokemija paid only a minor part of the cost for not taking over the gas.

The penalties, as envisaged by the contract, amounted to €61.5 million, and PPD wrote them off, PPD said in a press release, adding that “Grmoja is stating untruths to attract media attention.”

PPD was never a majority owner in Petrokemija nor did it make a decision to stop production in Petrokemija, the press release said.

The relevant sales agreement was signed six months before the start of the gas crisis and the gas price hikes, which was the reason why production in Petrokemija was stopped, PPD said.