According to Serbian Economist, Serbia has concluded negotiations with Hungary’s MOL regarding a shareholder agreement concerning NIS and will be able to acquire an additional 5% stake in the Serbian oil company, provided that MOL reaches an agreement with Gazprom Neft to buy out the Russian stake and the deal receives approval from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
This was announced by Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Jedović-Handanović.
Serbia currently owns 29.9% of NIS shares. Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Gazprom collectively control about 56.2% of the company. Hungary’s MOL is negotiating the purchase of this stake, but the deal requires approval from OFAC due to sanctions related to Russian participation in NIS.
According to Jedović-Handanović, the purchase of an additional 5% stake will strengthen Serbia’s position in approving and blocking decisions of strategic importance to the country’s economy. This is crucial for Belgrade, as NIS controls Serbia’s key oil infrastructure, including the country’s sole oil refinery in Pančevo.
As part of the agreements, MOL also committed to maintaining operations at the Pančevo refinery at least at the level of average annual capacity over the last four years prior to the imposition of U.S. sanctions.
For Serbia, the deal involving NIS is one of the key energy issues of 2026. Belgrade needs to simultaneously maintain the stability of fuel supplies, reduce sanctions risks, and retain its influence over a company that is of systemic importance to the country’s economy.
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