The Russian majority stake in the Serbian oil company NIS will be sold to the Hungarian MOL. The contract has been signed, and the finalization of the deal is subject to the approvals of the antimonopoly authorities of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali told Bloomberg Adria.
“The agreement between the Russian side, which is the majority owner, and the Hungarian MOL has been reached. The contract has been signed. We as a state have also concluded a shareholder agreement with the Hungarian side“, Mali said.
According to him, the permit documents are expected to be submitted soon, after which the change of ownership can be completed. Serbia has also agreed to increase its stake in NIS from approximately 30% to 35%.
56.15% stake for sale
The deal covers 56.15% of NIS shares. „Gazprom Neft“ owns 44.85%, and another 11.3% is owned by the company „Intelligence“, managed by „Gazprom Capital“.
The main terms of the sale were agreed in January. At that time, MOL announced that it had signed a binding agreement with „Gazprom Neft“ to acquire the stake and that the completion of the deal is subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.
In June, MOL and the Serbian government signed a separate shareholder agreement on the future management of NIS. It envisaged that the Hungarian company would take over management upon successful acquisition of the majority stake, but at that time the contract with the Russian sellers had not yet been finalized.
The deal comes against the backdrop of US sanctions
The sale was accelerated by US sanctions against NIS, imposed due to the Russian ownership. The US Treasury Department has repeatedly issued temporary permits, allowing the company to continue operating and the parties to negotiate a change of ownership.
NIS operates the Pančevo refinery with a capacity of about 4.8 million tons per year and a network of over 400 gas stations. The company is a major supplier of fuels to the Serbian market, making the deal key to the country's energy supplies.
On September 30, NIS received a new temporary permit from the US Treasury Department, allowing the company to continue its operations until October 30. After the regulatory decisions on the sale, it remains to be seen when exactly the Russian stake in MOL will be transferred.
Sources: rbc.ru, srpske.rs, rs.bloombergadria.com