Stories
NIS is Serbia's key oil company and the operator of the Pancevo refinery. This story follows how sanctions against the Russian stake in the company affect fuel supplies, Serbia's talks with MOL, Gazprom Neft, and the United States, and control over strategic infrastructure.
Stories
NIS is Serbia's key oil company and the operator of the Pancevo refinery. This story follows how sanctions against the Russian stake in the company affect fuel supplies, Serbia's talks with MOL, Gazprom Neft, and the United States, and control over strategic infrastructure.
Timeline
Serbia privatized NIS and the controlling stake moved to the Russian side. From that point on, ownership in NIS became not only a business question but also part of Serbia's relations with Russia, the EU, and the United States.
US sanctions against NIS became a practical threat to the company's operations and required special OFAC licenses so that NIS could continue operating while a solution on ownership was being sought.
MOL and Gazprom Neft announced a preliminary framework for the purchase of 56.15 percent of NIS, but the transaction remained dependent on OFAC, regulatory approvals, and a final sale contract.
Serbia and MOL announced a compromise on the shareholder agreement: Serbia gets additional governance rights, the Pancevo refinery is supposed to keep operating, and the key immediate deadline remains June 16, 2026. Later the minister clarified that Serbia had completed its part, but the deal now depends on Gazprom Neft, MOL, and the United States; evening N1 and Danas items stressed that without a statute change, the extra five percent of shares is not the same as control.
Forbes/N1 checked Ranko Mimovic's company, which Reuters had linked on May 6 to a EUR 2 billion offer to buy NIS. KFT Senator Treasury G.T.7 Dva had its account blocked six times in half a year at the Tax Administration's initiative, and on May 28 a first court dispute for RSD 98,496 was opened against it; this deepened doubts around alternative Serbian offers for NIS.
021, citing RTS, carried Jelica Putnikovic's assessment that the key decision is expected on Tuesday, June 16, when existing NIS licenses expire. She tied the outcome to OFAC consent, concrete contracts, possible governance changes, and the future of the Pancevo refinery.
Serbia and MOL signed a shareholder agreement on the future management of NIS. It depends on MOL's final deal with Gazprom Neft for 56.15 percent of NIS and OFAC approval; the same day Vucic said he expects the NIS license to be extended by 15 days.
Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said that after the agreement with MOL, the Serbian side has completed its part of the talks, while the final NIS sale now depends on Gazprom Neft, MOL, and whether the solution is acceptable to OFAC.
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Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said that, after signing the shareholder agreement with MOL, the Serbian side has completed its part of the NIS talks. She said Gazprom Neft and MOL now need to agree on the sale, with an outcome acceptable to the US Treasury's OFAC.
On June 16, the Energy Ministry and MOL signed a shareholder agreement on the future management of NIS: it takes effect only if MOL reaches a deal with Gazprom Neft to buy 56.15 percent of NIS and receives OFAC approval. The same day, Aleksandar Vucic said from Tbilisi that, based on information he was receiving from Washington, NIS's operating license may be extended for another 15 days.
On June 13, 021, citing RTS, carried Jelica Putnikovic's assessment that the nearest critical deadline for NIS is Tuesday, June 16, when the existing licenses expire. Even after the Serbia-MOL arrangement, the outcome depends on OFAC consent, concrete contracts, possible governance changes, and guarantees for keeping the Pancevo refinery operating.
On June 12, Forbes/N1 examined Ranko Mimovic's company, which Reuters had named on May 6 as a possible buyer of NIS for EUR 2 billion: KFT Senator Treasury G.T.7 Dva had its account blocked six times in half a year at the initiative of the Tax Administration. The article adds another risk to the long-running NIS story: alongside the MOL, Gazprom Neft, and OFAC track, the realism of alternative Serbian ownership bids remains in question.
On June 11, minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said Serbia had completed its part of the arrangement with MOL over NIS, but that an agreement between Gazprom Neft and MOL and US approval were still needed. By evening, N1 and Danas added expert framing: the extra five percent of shares does not itself create control without changing NIS's statute, while the current OFAC license expires on June 16.
Sources
