Updated

A Croatian court says it will try the chairman and CEO of Hungary's MOL energy group in absentia on charges that he bribed a former Croatian prime minister.

The Zagreb County Court on Tuesday confirmed the indictment against Zsolt Hernadi. It alleges that he agreed to give 10 million euros to Ivo Sanader in 2008 and 2009, while Sanader was prime minister, to gain control of Croatia's oil and gas firm INA.

Hernadi has denied the charges and Hungary has in the past rejected a Croatian arrest warrant. The trial date was not immediately set.

Sanader is serving a 10-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2012 of accepting a bribe from MOL.

Croatia has sought to combat graft since the Balkan country joined the European Union last year.