Hungary MOL to review portfolio, investments-paper

BUDAPEST, July 4 (Reuters) - Hungarian oil and gas group MOL MOLB.BU will have to streamline its operations and review investments due to the global crisis, MOL's Executive Chairman Zsolt Hernadi told daily Magyar Nemzet on Saturday.

When asked if the global crisis had changed MOL group's medium-term strategic plans, Hernadi said:

"First of all we will have to review our portfolio because opportunities are decreasing and we also have to streamline... Secondly, we also have to review investments."

"It's a question to what extent the market needs these investments now that demand is declining," he added.

Hernadi did not specify which elements of MOL's portfolio could be sold.

MOL has refineries not just in Hungary but also in neighbouring Slovakia, Croatia and also in Italy.

Hernadi said that by taking over management control over Croatian peer INA INA.ZA MOL has completely repositioned itself. MOL is INA's biggest shareholder with a 47 percent stake. The Croatian government owns some 44 percent.

"In central eastern Europe we will not be able to achieve a bigger position than we have now alone, therefore it's time for cooperation," Hernadi said.

He said a good area for increased cooperation would be the region's natural gas market where there is need for further development of infrastructure.

Hungary, which gets some 80 percent of its gas from Russia, supplied Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia with natural gas in January through MOL during the Ukraine gas transit crisis.

Hungary said on Wednesday that Hungary and Slovenia were exploring options on linking the gas networks of the two countries via MOL and Slovenia's main gas supplier Geoplin.

"The contruction of pipelines between countries is of strategic importance," Hernadi said. "If these (connections) are completed, we can create a large regional market," he added.

Hernadi said once gas pipeline networks in the region are connected, central and eastern Europe will cease to be a transit area for natural gas, and will become a market.

"We must also redefine our relationship with Poland. They always built in the north so far, while we invested in the south, but separately," he said, citing a recent agreement which Poland signed with Qatar about LNG shipments.

Hernadi reiterated that MOL regarded Russia's Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM), which bought a 21 stake in MOL earlier this year, a financial investor and did not wish to think of it as a strategic investor in the Hungarian company. [ID:nLU169740]

Surgut's move in which it bought a stake in MOL from Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI) for 1.4 billion euros, earned the ire of MOL and Hungary's government.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than, Editing by Peter Blackburn)