According to “Serbian Economist”, the Serbian company NIS has been granted another month to operate without restrictions from the U.S. OFAC has extended the company’s special license until July 31, said Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Jedović-Khandanović.
The previous license was valid until July 1. For Serbia, this means that the country’s key oil company will continue its normal operations for the time being, including the operation of the refinery in Pančevo and its network of gas stations.
At the same time, negotiations are ongoing between Hungary’s MOL and Gazprom Neft regarding the purchase of a stake in NIS. Earlier reports indicated that the deal involves a 56.15% stake. Additional regulatory approvals are required to finalize the deal, the most important of which remains approval from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Serbia and MOL have already signed a shareholders’ agreement regarding the future management of NIS. The potential deal structure may also include the subsequent sale of a minority stake held by ADNOC of the UAE and the possibility for Serbia to increase its stake in the company by 5%.
Currently, Gazprom Neft remains NIS’s largest shareholder with 44.85%, while another 11.3% is held by an entity managed by Gazprom Capital. The Serbian government owns 29.87%.
NIS’s problems arose after the company, as a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, was added to the U.S. SDN List in early 2025. President Aleksandar Vučić stated at the time that the U.S. was demanding the complete withdrawal of Russian capital from the company.
For Serbia, NIS is not just a major business but a strategic asset. The company is the only one in the country engaged in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons; it owns an oil refinery in Pančevo with a capacity of 4.8 million metric tons per year and dominates the petroleum products market. Its network includes more than 400 gas stations in Serbia and neighboring countries.
The extension of the license until July 31 eliminates the short-term risk to the fuel market, but does not resolve the main issue—who will control NIS after Russian capital withdraws, and under what conditions Serbia will retain influence over the country’s key energy company.
