MOSCOW, March 23 - RAPSI. The Zagreb District Court has summoned Russian businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev, the owner of the Russneft oil company, to testify in the case of former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, the Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper reported on Friday.

The court believes Gutseriyev could explain the details of a share purchase by the Hungarian MOL oil and gas company from Croatia's INA.

Following the transaction, Sanader received a 10 million euro bribe from MOL in 2009, according to the prosecutor's office.

The bribe amount was allegedly transferred through two Cypriot offshore companies to a bank account of Swiss-based Xenoplast Shipping AG, owned by Croatian businessman Robert Jezic. Jezic is the key witness for the prosecution in Sanader's trial.

Sanader's defense asserts that Cypriot companies were owned by Gutseriyev and it was he who transferred the money while lobbying his interests in Croatia.

Croatian Bureau for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime requested the Hungarian authorities to assist in the case.