OFAC has issued a decision allowing NIS to continue refining crude oil until 31 July, while MOL continues negotiations regarding a potential purchase of a majority share in the Petroleum Industry of Serbia.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended the operating licence for The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) for a further 30 days.
The new licence enables NIS to continue operations, namely the refining of crude oil.
“We have just been notified by OFAC that the operating licence for the continuation of NIS’s work has been extended for another 30 days – until 31 July. This ensures that the Pančevo Refinery can continue refining crude oil, which is particularly significant amid the global energy crisis,” Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović announced on Instagram.
As a reminder, NIS submitted a new application for an operating licence to the US Department of the Treasury on 26 June. The rationale provided at the time stated that the extension of the permit to operate was crucial for the orderly supply of the Serbian market.
It is also worth noting that the US administration had previously extended the negotiation licence for Gazprom Neft and MOL regarding the sale of the Russian majority ownership in the company for just 15 days, with that permit also set to expire on 1 July.
On 16 June, the Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, signed a Shareholders’ Agreement with the MOL Group regarding the future management of The Petroleum Industry of Serbia, which will come into force if MOL and Gazprom Neft reach an agreement and it receives approval from the US agency, OFAC.
MOL’s licence extended to continue negotiations on buying majority share in NIS
The Hungarian oil and gas company, MOL, has announced that it has received a licence from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the US Department of the Treasury, allowing it to continue negotiations with Gazprom to purchase a majority ownership share in NIS until 31 July 2026.
In a statement, MOL noted that it had received official approval from OFAC, extending the permit to continue talks on acquiring a majority share in The Petroleum Industry of Serbia.
The new licence is valid until 31 July 2026 and allows for the continuation of discussions regarding the potential transaction under the conditions of US sanctions relating to Russian ownership in NIS.
(Vreme, 01.07.2026)
https://vreme.com/ekonomija/ofak-produzio-nis-u-licencu-za-rad-jos-30-dana/