Serbia’s Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) has applied to the U.S. administration for an extension of its operating licence while negotiations continue over a potential transaction between Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Hungary’s MOL Group, Serbia’s energy minister said.
Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said NIS had submitted requests to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as discussions over the sale process were still at an early stage.
Hungary’s MOL confirmed on Jan. 19 that it had signed the key, binding terms of a framework agreement with Russia’s Gazprom Neft to acquire a 56.15% stake in NIS. However, a final sale and purchase agreement has yet to be concluded.
“We are still at the level of the basic terms of future contracts,” Djedovic Handanovic told Serbia’s public broadcaster RTS. “There is still a lot of work to be done before a full agreement is reached. What is important is that the Russian majority owners, Gazprom Neft and NIS, have agreed on the basic principles and that NIS has submitted requests to OFAC.”
Any transaction between MOL and Gazprom Neft requires approval from OFAC. The U.S. authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would approve the sale.
NIS is subject to U.S. sanctions due to its majority Russian ownership. Washington has said the sanctions could be lifted only if Russia exits the company’s ownership structure.
Russian shareholders hold 56.15% of NIS, including a 44.85% stake owned by state-controlled Gazprom Neft. The Serbian state currently owns 29.9%.
Djedovic Handanovic said on Jan. 19 that Serbia had succeeded in increasing its stake in NIS by 5 percentage points through negotiations.
MOL also said it was in talks with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) over a potential entry into NIS as a minority shareholder.