Serbian Energy Minister: Hungary's MOL wants to extend the finalisation of talks to purchase Serbia's NIS

MOL, Hungary's biggest oil and gas company, asked the U.S. for an extension of one month to finish talks with Serbia's NIS. NIS is a?oil?company controlled by Russia. MOL has requested a one-month extension to complete negotiations with Russia's Gazprom neft regarding its purchase of a majority stake in NIS. This request follows a two week extension that MOL obtained last month. NIS was subject to U.S. sanction imposed in October due to its Russian ownership. This is part of broader measures that target Moscow's energy sector following its invasion of Ukraine. Washington has called for the divestment from the Russian stake.

After a meeting in St Petersburg with Gazprom CEO Alexander Dyukov, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, Serbian Energy minister said that MOL had asked OFAC for more 'time' to complete the negotiations on NIS.

Handanovic stated in a press release that "they have requested an additional 30 days for negotiations to be completed."

She stated that Dyukov had told her that NIS will also ask for an extension to an operating license that expires on June 16th.

MOL announced on the 19th of January that it had signed an agreement binding with Gazprom, Gazprom and Neft to purchase their combined stake in NIS. It did not reveal the price.

Serbia owns 29.9% of NIS, while the rest is owned by minority shareholders.

Before the deal can be finalized, Belgrade and MOL will also have to?agree? on the future operations of the company. NIS is Serbia's sole oil refinery and therefore a key player in the energy sector.

(source: Reuters)