WASHINGTON / BELGRADE – The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury Department issued a license to JANAF, the Croatian oil transportation company, to procure Serbian NIS with oil on 31 December 2025. This means that, for the first time in almost three months, NIS will be able to manufacture imported oil.
Commenting on the decision, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić called it “good news”, adding that he expected the NIS-owned Pančevo oil refinery, which stopped operating in December, would normalise its work by 17 January.
“I hope that, in the meantime, the Russians and Hungarians will finish the job”, Vučić added. If not renewed, OFAC’s license expires on 23 January.
Sanctions on NIS were imposed in January 2025, while OFAC revoked the operating license for the company in early October. The United States demands that Russian companies withdraw from the ownership of NIS. Serbia sold the majority share of the company to Gazprom Neft and Gazprom in 2008.
In December, Serbian media reported that negotiations were officially underway with the Hungarian oil company MOL and Russian companies. Previously, MOL had been informally mentioned as one of the main potential buyers of the Russian stake in NIS.
Last week, OFAC issued a license to NIS and other entities to conduct negotiations on the transfer of ownership until 24 March 2026.
The Government of Croatia announced on 31 December that JANAF received a license from OFAC to procure NIS with oil “of exclusively non-Russian origin”.
“This decision clearly shows that the US administration recognizes Croatia as an important partner that, with its energy infrastructure, contributes to reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy”, the Government of Croatia posted on X.
Meanwhile, media close to the ruling party in Serbia attributed the decision to the efforts and foreign policy of President Vučić.
The article has been updated.
