OFAC extends period for negotiations between shareholders of Serbia's NIS on selling Russian stake until March 24 - media

MOSCOW. Dec 25 (Interfax) - The United States Department of the Treasury's Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a new license to the Serbian energy company NIS (part of Gazprom Neft ), permitting negotiations between shareholders and other interested parties on changing the ownership structure.

The new license permits such negotiations until March 24 (the previous license set the negotiation deadline as February 13, 2026), the Serbian portal RTS said.

The media cited Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as saying that the extension of the shareholder negotiation period "means little to Serbia, since the problem of supplying oil to the NIS refinery needs to be resolved faster."

This concerns negotiations on the sale of the Russian stake in NIS. The main owner of NIS is Gazprom Neft (44.85%), while another 11.3% of shares belong to JSC Intelligence (managed by Gazprom Capital LLC, which also concentrates financial investments of Gazprom Group ). Gazprom directly owns one share of NIS. The Serbian authorities own 29.87% of NIS, and the Serbian company also has minority shareholders.

NIS, as a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, was included in the U.S. SDN List at the beginning of 2025. President Vucic said at the time that the U.S. was demanding a complete withdrawal of Russian capital. He also recalled that the Serbian government transferred control of NIS in favor of Gazprom Neft in 2008, and over the past years the company has contributed significant revenues to the Serbian budget as well as to the development of many projects.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in mid-December 2025 that Russia proceeds from the assumption that in the situation surrounding NIS, the Serbian authorities will fulfill the obligations they undertook under the intergovernmental agreement. "We have an intergovernmental agreement with Serbia in the event any restrictions are imposed against this commercial entity. And, of course, we work on the assumption that Serbia's leadership, which is friendly to us, will keep this in mind and honor its commitments. Otherwise, the question arises how money can be invested in the economy of a country where there are security guarantees, if even the intergovernmental agreement doesn't work," Putin said.

Foreign media have named Croatia's INA, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Hungary's MOL as potential buyers for the Russian stake. However, the Croatian authorities said that INA has problems of its own and will not buy NIS, while the Arab company is not commenting on the information and MOL may not receive U.S. approval for the deal.

There is also the option of nationalizing NIS. Although Vucic has publicly rejected this idea, the Serbian parliament is preparing a legislative amendment that would allow Serbia to become the owner of the company. The idea of the authorities buying out the stake from Gazprom Neft has been discussed unofficially, with the Serbian side even mentioning an approximate deal amount of 600 million euros.

NIS is the only company in Serbia engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production, and it also owns a large oil refinery in the city of Pancevo. The company dominates the petroleum products market in its own country, and its filling station network is also present in neighboring Balkan countries, totaling over 400 stations.