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The United States has extended a temporary operating license for the Russian-controlled Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) for another 30 days, according to the country's energy minister on Tuesday. The state-backed oil company remains under U.S. sanctions.
The NIS has faced U.S. sanctions since January 2025 over Russia's war in Ukraine.
Washington is demanding that Gazprom Neft and its sister company, both subsidiaries of Russian energy giant Gazprom, sell their combined 56% stake as a condition for lifting the sanctions.
The enforcement of these sanctions has been repeatedly postponed to allow time for the sale to be finalized.
Talks on the sale of the Russian-held stake in NIS to Hungarian energy company MOL have been ongoing for months.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended the company's operating license and the deadline for MOL and Gazprom to complete negotiations until July 1.
"We have just been informed by OFAC that the operating license to resume work at NIS has been extended for another 30 days, until July 31," Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic announced on Instagram.
"In this way, the refinery in Pancevo continues to process crude oil, which is particularly significant in the global energy crisis," she said.
Serbia remains a close Kremlin ally and is one of the few European countries not to impose sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine.
The Balkan country sold a majority stake in NIS to Gazprom in 2008 for 400 million euros, or about $457 million, and now owns around 30%.
Officials say Serbia intends to raise its stake by 5% after the sale.
Earlier this month, MOL and the Serbian government signed a shareholders' agreement regarding the future governance of NIS, contingent on a deal being reached with the Russian shareholders and approved by OFAC.
Gazprom Neft Chief Executive Alexander Dyukov recently confirmed that the company is negotiating the sale of its stake in NIS, but warned that "it will take time," according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
While he did not disclose the other parties involved in the talks, MOL remains the only publicly known bidder.
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