BELGRADE – The United States has extended the operating license for the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) until 30 September, Serbian Minister of Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović announced on Friday.
The decision by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allows NIS to continue its operations and the Pančevo oil refinery to remain operational.
Russian shareholders hold a 56.15% stake in NIS, of which 44.85% is owned by the state-controlled Gazprom Neft.
Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and Gazprom Neft signed the key terms of a framework agreement in mid-January, with the possibility of bringing in a company from the United Arab Emirates as a minority partner, although the potential involvement of a third company has barely been mentioned in recent months.
MOL and the Serbian government signed a shareholders’ agreement on 16 June concerning the future management of the Petroleum Industry of Serbia.
Đedović Handanović said negotiations on the sale of NIS between Hungary’s MOL and majority shareholder Gazprom Neft were in their final stages, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) reported.
“The latest extension of the licence is a signal that progress is being made and that there is a willingness to provide the additional time necessary to complete this complex transaction,” the energy minister said.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić also expressed hope on Thursday that the issue surrounding NIS could be resolved during September.
“For the first time, it seems to me – and I am optimistic and hopeful – that we could bring the entire NIS issue to a close in September,” Vučić told reporters.
