OFAC extends Serbian company NIS's operational license for 2 months - media

MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended a special license for Serbia's NIS (part of Gazprom Neft ) for 60 days, which will allow it to continue operational activities, the local publication RTS reported, citing Serbian Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic.

The license has been extended until June 16, Handanovic said.

The previous license for NIS's operational activities was valid until April 17.

NIS regularly requests that OFAC grant permission to continue operations while negotiations on the sale of its shares are ongoing.

OFAC, upon the request of the Hungarian company MOL, previously extended the negotiation period for acquiring a controlling stake in Serbian company NIS until May 22, 2026.

As reported, MOL has agreed with Gazprom Neft to purchase 56.15% of NIS. It is assumed that MOL may later sell a minority stake in NIS to ADNOC (UAE). Additionally, Serbia will be able to increase its stake in NIS by 5 percentage points in the future.

Currently, the main owner of the company is Gazprom Neft (44.85%), with another 11.3% of shares owned by JSC Intelligence (managed by Gazprom Capital LLC). Gazprom directly owns one share of NIS. The Serbian authorities own 29.87%, and the company also has minority shareholders.

As reported, NIS, as a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, was included in the U.S. SDN List at the beginning of 2025. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at the time that the U.S. was demanding the complete withdrawal of Russian capital.

NIS is the only company in Serbia engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production, and it also owns a large refinery in the city of Pancevo with a capacity of 4.8 million tonnes per year. The company dominates the petroleum products market in the country, and its network of filling stations is also present in neighboring Balkan states, totaling more than 400 stations.