Budapest - MOL plc, Hungary's expansion-minded oil and gas group, nearly doubled its stake in Croatian energy company INA to more than 47 per cent in a deal worth 1.2 billion dollars, MOL said Friday.

MOL said it expects anti-trust regulators to approve the purchase, which would give the Hungarian company a larger share of INA than the Croatian government's near-45-per-cent stake.

Budapest - A plane carrying four Hungarian soldiers on its way to the Afghan capital Kabul was forced to land in Iran, the Hungarian Defence Ministry said late Tuesday, clearing up confusion about the aircraft, which Iranian media had claimed was from the US.

The plane was forced to land for bureaucratic reasons, the ministry said.

Budapest (Hungary), Oct 7: Archaeologists have unearthed one of the earliest Roman villas in Budapest, Hungary.

According to a report in All Hungary News, the site is of special importance, as it fits well into the line of villas previously found in the area, providing more information on the location and extension of villa farms around Aquincum.

Ruins of the Roman building complex were discovered following several months of excavation work at a plot destined to become a hypermarket.

The Office of Cultural Heritage had ordered the excavation to be carried out, as a Roman wall was found under the neighboring plot at Becsi ut 260 in 2004.

Budapest  - An express train slammed into the back of a local train outside Budapest on Monday, killing a man and injuring 30 people, a news agency reported.

Vienna  - Hungarian oil and gas group MOL Plc. plans to operate 100 petrol stations in Austria this year, the company's CEO Zsolt Hernadi said in Vienna on Monday.

MOL was aiming at a market share between five and 10 per cent of Austria's petrol retail market, Hernadi told Austrian public broadcaster ORF.

The Hungarian company has told its Austrian rival OMV AG it wanted to buy 100 of its stations, but had not received and answer yet, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Budapest - A venerable Hungarian porcelain factory said Wednesday it has landed an order to make china tableware for Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea.

Zsolnay Porcelanmanufaktura expects to sign a seven-year deal shortly to supply 5,000 tons of china a year for Ikea starting in September 2009, the MTI news agency reported.

While Zsolnay would be one of about 1,300 Ikea suppliers, the contract would be a lifeline for the loss-making 156-year-old company.