Serbia concludes negotiations on shareholder agreement with Hungary's MOL regarding NIS oil company

Serbia completed Wednesday talks on a shareholders agreement with MOL, Hungary’s largest oil and gas company, regarding its minority stake in Russian-owned, U.S. sanctioned NIS Oil & Gas. Serbia's Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic announced this in an Instagram post.

MOL's acquisition talks with NIS's majority owners, Russia’s Gazprom and Gazprom (44.9% and 11.3% respectively) are distinct from the relations between MOL and the Serbian Government, which owns 29.9% of NIS.

Djedovic handanovic posted on 'Instagram' that "Today we closed all issues with the Hungarian MOL, and reached a compromise regarding the shareholder agreement" between the Republic of Serbia (and MOL). The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against NIS in October last year as part of broader measures targeting the?Russian energy sector due to the conflict in Ukraine. They demanded the divestment of the Russian-owned shares?in NIS and forced the company to apply for temporary operating licenses that allow it to import crude oil and process it.

MOL and Washington signed an agreement to purchase the combined Gazprom-Neft-Gazprom stakes in January. Washington gave the Russian companies until 16 June to complete the sale.

MOL will sell 56.15% of NIS to Gazpromneft if the OFAC approves this transaction. Djedovic handanovic stated that this would give the state more?rights in making or blocking important decisions for our country. She also said that Hungarian officials had pledged to continue operating the Serbian NIS refinery with the same capacity as in the previous four years, before sanctions were introduced.

The NIS refinery, located in Pancevo near Belgrade, can process 4.8 million tons of crude oil annually. (Aleksandar Vasovic)

(source: Reuters)