BELGRADE: NIS (Naftna Industrija Srbije, Oil Industry of Serbia) said it had submitted a request to the US Treasury Department's Office...
BELGRADE: NIS (Naftna Industrija Srbije, Oil Industry of Serbia) said it had submitted a request to the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) seeking an extension of its operating license beyond July 1.
"NIS has approached the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury with a request to issue a new special license that would allow it to continue its operations without disruption," the company's press service said in a statement.
On January 19, Gazprom and Hungary's MOL announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the sale of a stake in Serbia's NIS. Serbian authorities have announced plans to increase their stake in the company by 5%, which would allow Belgrade to influence certain decisions at shareholders' meetings. MOL is also holding talks with the UAE's ADNOC on joining NIS's ownership structure as a minority shareholder.
NIS shareholders have been forced to sell their assets because they have come under US sanctions. In January 2025, the US Treasury Department placed the Serbian company on its sanctions list together with its majority shareholder, Gazprom Neft. After several postponements, the restrictions entered into force on October 9 of the same year. On November 11, 2025, Serbia's Energy Ministry said that NIS's Russian owners had notified the United States of their readiness to transfer control of the company to a third party.
Earlier, OFAC extended NIS's operating license through July 1 and set the same date as the new deadline for negotiations on MOL's purchase of the Russian stake in the company. Prior to that, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he expected the extension of talks on the acquisition of the stake in Naftna Industrija Srbije to be the final one.
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