Two Republican members of the US House of Representatives are calling on President Donald Trump’s administration to continue with sanctions against the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), according to the US media outlet The Hill.
Russian owners hold a 56.15 per cent stake in NIS, of which 44.85 per cent belongs to the state-owned company Gazprom Neft.
Republican congressmen Joe Wilson and Keith Self sent a letter on Friday, 25 September to the Department of the Treasury opposing the extension of sanctions relief for NIS, as reported by Radio Free Europe (RFE).
“We are writing to respectfully ask that you reconsider the extension of any additional temporary licences that would allow the Petroleum Industry of Serbia to continue operating despite US sanctions related to its Russian ownership,” the representatives wrote.
The letter was addressed to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) submitted a new application to the US Department of the Treasury on 24 September for a licence that would allow it to continue operational activities. NIS’s current operating licence, issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury, expires on 30 September.
In early 2025, the US administration imposed sanctions on NIS, which is majority Russian-owned, to prevent Russia from using energy revenues to fund the war in Ukraine. Sanctions have been deferred for over a year, and ever since Hungary’s MOL emerged as an interested buyer, the OFAC operating licence has been periodically renewed.
Wilson and Self have expressed concern that the exemptions are allowing NIS to drag out negotiations over the sale of the Russian stake in the company.
In January, the Hungarian company MOL announced that it had reached an agreement with Gazprom Neft to acquire its majority stake in NIS, but the deal has not yet been finalised.
“Negotiations on the final purchase agreement are still ongoing, and MOL has asked your department for further approval to continue trading despite limited progress,” the congressmen wrote.
“Furthermore, Serbia continues to maintain close political and economic ties with Russia and, unlike most European countries, has not imposed sanctions on Moscow following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,” they added.
(Biznis.rs, 29.09.2026)