After years of profitable operations, the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), which is under United States sanctions due to its majority Russian ownership, is recording a loss.
This is shown by the latest published financial statements for 2025.
The report published on the website of the Serbian Business Registers Agency, shows a net loss of around 104 million euros.
By the time of publication, NIS had not responded to questions from Radio Free Europe (RFE) regarding what caused the loss and to what extent United States sanctions were responsible.
After several delays, the implementation of sanctions against Serbia’s largest oil company – and the only one engaged in both the extraction and refining of oil under majority Russian ownership – began on 9 October. The aim of the US sanctions is to prevent Russia from financing the war in Ukraine through profits from energy resources.
In addition to the parent company, the NIS Group includes other subsidiary companies in Serbia and abroad. Among them are Petrohemija Pančevo and companies through which NIS operates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Bulgaria.
A report covering the entire NIS Group, published by the company in early February, shows that the Group recorded a loss almost twice as small – amounting to around 47.8 million euros.
Where does the difference come from?
The difference in figures, explains economist and FEFA Faculty professor Goran Radosavljević, indicates that the NIS Group generated profit elsewhere, which offset the losses of the parent company.
Radosavljević told RFE that the report does not clearly show how NIS compensated for part of the loss, nor does it indicate that US sanctions have harmed the company to an extent that would jeopardise its operations.
“Other than preventing them from making larger profits, as was the case in previous years when NIS recorded profits in the hundreds of millions of euros,” Radosavljević says. According to him, a more serious impact of sanctions is yet to be expected, particularly if negotiations over the sale of the Russian stake in NIS are prolonged.
Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Hungary’s MOL Group are still awaiting a “green light” from US authorities for the framework agreement on the sale of the Russian stake in NIS, which they reached in mid-January.
“I think the Americans currently have more important matters. It also seems to me that the Russian side is buying time and has no intention of exiting NIS,” Radosavljević assesses.
What do the financial statements reveal?
In its financial report published on the website of the Serbian Business Registers Agency, NIS states that sanctions may have a “negative impact on access to international financial markets and transactions in US dollars”.
Practically from the start of the sanctions, payments at NIS petrol stations in Serbia have only been possible in cash or with domestic payment cards.
Sanctions may also, as stated, lead to “potential reductions in revenue and profitability due to limited trading activities”.
Under what circumstances is NIS operating?
Nearly four months of sanctions, along with a crisis in the global oil and petroleum products market caused by conflicts in the Middle East that began in late February – these are the circumstances currently facing Serbia’s largest oil company.
However, according to Radosavljević, the global rise in oil prices does not affect NIS, as a third or even a quarter of the oil it processes comes from domestic sources in Vojvodina, in northern Serbia. “They extract domestic oil from which they generate their highest profit. The global market price does not affect the price of domestic oil. On the contrary, with rising global oil prices, they further enhance the value of domestic oil,” Radosavljević explains.
He adds that the company’s operations have not been affected by the government’s decision to cap fuel prices at petrol stations from 20 March, as the state simultaneously reduced excise duties.
State levies, including excise duties and value added tax (VAT), had previously accounted for more than half of the retail price of fuel before the reduction in excise duties.
What is the status of negotiations?
Negotiations on the sale of the Russian stake in NIS to Hungary’s MOL Group are still ongoing following the signing of a framework agreement, which was submitted to US authorities in mid-January.
The initial deadline for the negotiations, which expired on 24 March, has been extended until 17 May. While negotiations continue, NIS has had its operating licence extended several times. The current licence expires in mid-April.
US authorities have also temporarily suspended sanctions on Russian oil already at sea due to market disruptions, with the aim of curbing rising energy prices caused by the war in Iran. This means that Russia can freely sell oil already loaded on tankers at sea to buyers around the world.
The move has been met with sharp criticism from Ukraine and European allies, while Moscow has welcomed the decision of the US authorities.
Gazprom Neft and Hungary’s MOL Group have not responded to earlier enquiries from RFE regarding whether and what has changed in negotiations over NIS under the new geopolitical circumstances.
(Radio Free Europe, 03.04.2026)
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/poslovanje-nis-srbija-sankcije/33723316.html