Croatian Parliament Speaker, MP Gordan Jandrokovic (HDZ), said on Thursday that it is necessary first "to establish all the facts" concerning Fortenova's takeover by an investor from the UAE "before deciding on the next steps," Croatian state agency Hina reported, without clarifying.

According to media reports, Saif Alketbi of the United Arab Emirates acquired a 43.4 percent stake in the food and retail conglomerate Fortenova Grupa, by buying shares owned by the Russian state-owned bank Sberbank.

Fortenova was created after the ailing private-owned Agrokor conglomerate was put under state administration, having been on the verge of bankruptcy. In a deal with the company’s creditors, which included Sberbank, the debt was turned into equity.

The transaction, which refers to a 43.4 percent stake in the Dutch-registered holding company Fortenova Group was completed on 31 October, “the Millenium Promocija public relations agency said in a press release on Wednesday evening.”

Local media did not report on the value of the transaction or any other details. However, reporters asked politicians to comment on the sale, as Fortenova is one of the largest private-owned companies in Croatia.

Earlier on Thursday, the HDZ-led government of Croatia replied that they had no “official information” on the deal. Later that day, Speaker of Parliament, MP Gordan Jandrokovic (HDZ) also told a news conference in Zagreb that he had no knowledge about the deal, other than what was published in the local media, which merely re-published the press release by a local PR agency.

Insisting on the gravity of the situation, reporters asked Jandrokovic whether the intelligence agency SOA should have been informed about the transaction.

“Time will show whether they should have been acquainted with the matter. I can see that this is a complex legal and financial matter and I expect more information as to whether this transaction was in compliance with the law and regulations on the sanctions imposed on Russian companies,” he said.

When asked for comment, Fortenova itself said they had no knowledge about the transaction, i.e. they admitted in an unsigned press release that they do not know who their owner is.

“Sberbank’s assets have been under sanctions, and the sale would require special permits from bodies in charge of implementing the sanctions,” the company said in an unsigned corporate press release.

Sberbank had acquired a stake in Fortenova Group in April 2019 after what was billed at the time by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic the “successful implementation of a settlement agreement” between creditors of the Agrokor food and retail company and its state-appointed administration. Sberbank tried offloading its share in the company, but two recent attempts to do this failed.

“The first potential buyer of Sberbank’s stake, the Hungarian company Indotek, did not manage to obtain those permits,” the group said.

In a second attempt to sell Sberbank’s 43 percent stake, which was agreed with local pension funds, the necessary permits were obtained. “However, representatives of the German Allianz pension fund sitting on the AZ Fund Supervisory Board stopped the transaction,” Fortenova Grupa added.

“According to information available to Fortenova Grupa, no further sale permits were obtained and we do not see how a valid sale could have occurred. Also, following due diligence by pension funds, there were no other instances of due diligence. If the sanctions were bypassed in the process, that constitutes a criminal act and the company did not take part in it,” Fortenova Grupa said.

Sberbank confirmed that they sold the stake to Alketbi and said in another press release that they are no longer a shareholder of Fortenova.

As of Thursday evening, the local media, including state news agency Hina, seemed confused as to whether the company was sold or not, whether the transaction can be considered legal, or what the value of the transaction was, as they seem to rely solely on releases by PR agencies and confused politicians for information.

Alketbi’s plans for Fortenova also remain a mystery, as are plans of the company’s other shareholders, the American Knighthead Capital investment fund, which holds a 24.9 percent stake, and Russia’s VTB bank, which holds another 7 percent.