Croatia confirms new corruption indictment for ex-PM

ZAGREB Nov 7 (Reuters) - A Croatian court confirmed an indictment against ex-Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Monday for allegedly taking a bribe in 2008 from Hungary's energy group MOL in return for giving it a dominant position in the Croatian oil firm INA .

Sanader and MOL have dismissed as false accusations that Sanader agreed with a high-ranking person from MOL to do everything necessary to secure MOL an unjustifiably dominant position in INA in exchange for 10 million euros.

"The indictment has been confirmed and prosecutors have suggested merging this with the previous trial," Sanader's defence counsel Cedo Prodanovic told reporters.

The court is already trying Sanader, 58, for allegedly taking a commission for a bank loan to the Croatian government in 1995. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Tackling corruption is a key requirement of Croatia's EU membership, and Zagreb remains under scrutiny from Brussels pending entry to the bloc, set for 2013.

MOL was not available for immediate comment, but its spokesman Domokos Szollar said last week "there was no payment or agreement on any payment with the former PM Sanader".

The Croatian prosecutors said in September they had handed over documents implicating "a high ranking MOL official" to the Hungarian authorities for further investigation.

Hungary's Chief Prosecutor's office said Hungary had started its own investigation but has not named any suspects yet. (Reporting by Zoran Radosavljevic; editing by Philippa Fletcher)