The US has lifted sanctions on Serbia's NIS oil company, which is owned by Russians.

Serbian energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic announced on Instagram that the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control has granted another reprieve to Serbian-owned NIS oil until July 31.

The waiver from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control allows NIS to continue to import crude oil up until the sale of the Russian majority stake to Hungary's MOL. The previous waiver will expire on Wednesday. OFAC imposed sanctions on NIS as part of wider measures targeting Russia's Energy Sector over the War in Ukraine in October. They demanded divestment from Gazprom Neft, its Russian majority owner, and Gazprom.

MOL and Gazprom signed a deal on the 19th of January to purchase a combined 56% stake in NIS. After several extensions, OFAC gave companies until Wednesday to complete the deal.

Serbia wants to also increase its stake in NIS by an extra 5%. Gazprom owns an 11.3% stake, and its sanctioned oil unit Gazprom?owns the remaining 44.9%. The 'Serbian Government' owns 29,9% of NIS, while the rest is held by employees and small shareholders.

(source: Reuters)