Hungary's oil and gas group MOL MOLB.BU said on Friday it continued to reject a merger approach by Austria's OMV but was optimistic about further plans with Croatia's INA, in which it already holds a stake, Reuters reports.

MOL's chief executive officer, Gyorgy Mosonyi, told a news conference that MOL welcomed the Croatian government's intention to renegotiate the INA shareholders' agreement after the state's stake dropped below 50 percent.

"Our relationship makes me optimistic. I think we will be able to discuss very quickly how to progress," Mosonyi said.

He said MOL needed further acquisitions to meet its strategic targets and while downstream acquisition plans would focus on INA, MOL would also examine further upstream possibilities in Russia, Pakistan, and Africa.

He also said MOL's management was planning to initiate a cancellation of shares at its annual shareholder meeting at the end of April.