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The United States has granted Serbia an additional four weeks to complete the sale of Serbian oil company NIS, which faces U.S. sanctions due to its Russian ownership, Serbia’s energy minister said Friday.
Under pressure from the sanctions, Serbian authorities have been negotiating the sale of NIS, which controls about 80% of the domestic fuel market, to Hungarian oil company MOL.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on NIS in October as part of broader measures targeting Russia’s energy sector over Moscow’s war in Ukraine. In December, Washington granted NIS a temporary exemption until late March to allow negotiations on the divestment of majority stakes held by Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Gazprom.
The sanctions deadline has been delayed several times, except between October and December, when NIS was forced to halt production at its main Pancevo refinery near Belgrade due to a lack of crude oil supplies.
Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic said NIS’s operating license has now been extended until March 20, allowing Serbia to continue importing oil during the grace period.
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Russian firms Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, through their subsidiary Gazprom Intelligence, hold a combined majority stake in NIS. The sanctions are part of wide-ranging US measures aimed at the Russian oil industry in an effort to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
President Aleksandar Vucic said in January that MOL was prepared to pay between $1 billion and $1.17 billion for the Russian-owned shares in NIS. The Serbian government holds a 30% stake in the company, which plays a critical role in the national economy, with its annual payments accounting for about 12% of Serbia’s state budget.
The international pressure has placed Serbia in a difficult position as it seeks membership in the European Union while maintaining close ties with Russia, a long-standing ally.
Meanwhile, on Jan. 19, Hungary’s MOL said it had signed a binding agreement with Russian companies to purchase their stakes in NIS.
According to company data, Gazprom Neft holds a 44.9% stake in NIS, while Gazprom owns 11.3%. The Serbian government holds 29.9%, with the remainder owned by small shareholders and company employees.
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