NIS, MOL ask OFAC to suspend sanctions against Serbian energy co amid negotiations to buy out Russian shareholders - Serbian energy minister
MOSCOW. Dec 25 (Interfax) - Serbian national energy company NIS, which is part of Russia's Gazprom Neft , and Hungary's MOL have asked the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to suspend sanctions against NIS amid negotiations for MOL to buy out the Russian shareholders of NIS, Serbian news outlet RTS quoted Serbian Energy Dubravka Djedovic-Handanovic as saying.
She said the Hungarian and Serbian governments backed MOL's negotiations to buy out the Russian stake in NIS, and the authorities of both countries also supported initiatives to lift sanctions against it.
The OFAC has extended the license permitting NIS shareholders to negotiate the sale of the Russian stake until March 24 - the previous license set a deadline of February 13.
This pertains to negotiations for the sale of the Russian stake in NIS. Currently, the main co-owners of NIS are Gazprom Neft with 44.85% and the Serbian authorities with 29.87%, while another 11.3% of NIS shares belong to JSC Intelligence, which is managed by Gazprom Capital LLC, which holds, among other things, the financial investments of the Gazprom Group . Gazprom directly owns one NIS share, and the Serbian company has minority shareholders, as well.
NIS was included in the U.S. SDN List in early 2025. In this regard, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said the U.S. was demanding that Serbia completely remove Russian capital from NIS. He recalled that the Serbian government sold a controlling stake in NIS to Gazprom Neft in 2008, and in the subsequent years NIS has generated substantial revenue for the country's budget and facilitated the development of many projects.
The OFAC has repeatedly postponed the sanctions, which have prevented the company from continuing operations. However, they finally took effect on October 8, and NIS suspended production of petroleum products at the Pancevo refinery, Serbia's largest refinery, on November 25 because these restrictions disrupted the flow of oil from its main supplier, Croatia's JANAF, which operates the Adriatic Pipeline.
Russia assumes that the Serbian authorities will continue fulfilling their obligations under the intergovernmental agreement in light of the situation with NIS, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in the middle of December. "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 this economy? Where are the safeguards if even the intergovernmental agreement fails to deliver?" Putin said.
Foreign media outlets have named Croatia's INA, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Hungary's MOL among the contenders for the Russian stake. However, Croatian authorities have said INA has its own problems and will not purchase NIS. ADNOC and the Hungarian company have not commented on the information.
Nationalization of NIS is also an option. Vucic has publicly rejected this idea, but the Serbian parliament is drafting a legislative amendment that would allow Serbia to become the owner of the company. The idea of the government buying out Gazprom Neft's stake has been discussed unofficially, with the Serbian side even citing an estimated deal price of 600 million euros.
NIS is the only company in Serbia that explores for and produces hydrocarbons. The company has a large oil refinery in Pancevo and dominates Serbia's oil product market. NIS also has a chain of more than 400 filling stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Romania.
