VIENNA, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - Austrian oil and gas group OMV said on Wednesday it was withdrawing a controversial takeover bid for Hungarian company MOL, after the European Commission expressed reservations about the deal.

'OMV revokes its intention published on September 25, 2007 to make an offer to shareholders of MOL of 32,000 Hungarian forints (136.2 euros, 211.35 dollars) per share,' the group said in a statement Wednesday.

'The European Commission has indicated that it would not accept commitments that OMV had proposed; since other commitments would be unacceptable to OMV, OMV has decided to withdraw the merger notification filed with the European Commission on January 31, 2008,' it added.

On June 16, the European Commission issued a statement of objections, in which it expressed reservations about a potential merger of OMV and MOL.

The deal with OMV, already the biggest oil and gas group in central Europe, would have created serious competition problems in the region, it said.