Austrian energy company OMV is in talks with JP Morgan and Barclays to secure a loan of $18.2 billion, Austrian daily newspaper Osterreich reported July 2, citing unnamed sources close to OMV. If granted, the loan would allow OMV to buy a controlling stake in Hungarian energy company MOL. Despite the Hungarian government's protests, OMV has said it will pursue a hostile takeover if it cannot achieve a reasonable merger. Although the pro-Russian OMV appears to be making an independent bid to increase its influence in the region, the issue came up rather suddenly after MOL thwarted a takeover attempt by Russian state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom. As an independent state, Hungary could block a concerted effort by OMV to take over MOL, but the consequences — both political and economic — of thoroughly angering Russian interests might be too severe to face.