Negotiations between Belgrade and the Hungarian concern MOL on the latter's purchase of the Russian stake in the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) are not going well. Belgrade hopes for understanding from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department, as the deadline expires on May 22. This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
„Negotiations with MOL are not going very well, not brilliantly. We always leave open the possibility that everything will be done properly, but I am not too optimistic. And what will happen in two days, on May 22? "I hope that OFAC will understand our position and that Serbia will not be subjected to sanctions through no fault of its own," Vucic told reporters.
On May 7, after talks with MOL representatives, Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Džedović-Handanović said that Belgrade was not satisfied with the Hungarian concern's proposal regarding the agreement between future NIS shareholders.
On January 19, „Gazprom“ and MOL announced the signing of a letter of intent to sell a stake in Serbian NIS. Serbian authorities announced an increase in their stake in the company by 5%, which will allow Belgrade to influence certain decisions at the shareholders' meeting. MOL is also in talks with ADNOC from the UAE to join NIS as a minority shareholder.
The owners of NIS are forced to sell their assets due to US sanctions. In January 2025, the US Treasury Department added the Serbian company to the sanctions list along with its majority shareholder “Gazprom Neft“. After several delays, the restrictions came into effect on October 9 of the same year. On November 11, 2025, the Serbian Ministry of Energy announced that the Russian owners of NIS had notified the United States of their readiness to transfer control of the company to a third party.
OFAC had previously issued an operating license for NIS until June 16, 2026. The US Treasury Department also extended the deadline for negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in the Serbian company until May 22, 2026.