MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. Hungary's MOL has signed a binding agreement with Russia's Gazprom Neft to acquire a 56.15% stake in Serbia's NIS, the deal could be closed by March 31, subject to approval by US and Serbian authorities, the Hungarian holding company announced on its website.
"MOL Group has signed a binding Heads of Agreement with Gazprom Neft to acquire its 56.15% stake in the Serbian Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) corporation. Once the transaction is completed, MOL will assume significant shareholder responsibilities and control rights in the company operating Serbia’s only refinery, this way further strengthening its presence in the Central and Southeastern European energy market," the statement says.
The parties expect to close the deal by March 31, but it will require approval from the US OFAC and Serbian authorities.
"The MOL Group is in negotiations with ADNOC, the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates, to join the owners of NIS as a minority shareholder, while retaining MOL's majority ownership and control," said MOL Group Chairman of the Board and CEO Zsolt Hernadi, whose words are quoted in the report.
Earlier Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic-Handanovic announced that Gazprom and the Hungarian concern MOL have come to terms on a deal concerning NIS, one of which stipulates that Belgrade will increase its stake in the company by 5%.
According to her, the negotiators will soon present the terms of the deal to the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). She noted that "partners from the United Arab Emirates are expected to play a role in the deal adding that the transaction should be finalized no later than March 24.
NIS owners are forced to sell their assets because otherwise they will be subject to US sanctions. In January 2025, the US Treasury Department added the Serbian company to the sanctions list along with its majority shareholder, Gazprom Neft. After several deferrals, the restrictions came into effect on October 9, 2025. On November 11, 2025, the Serbian Energy Ministry announced that the Russian owners of NIS had notified the United States of their willingness to transfer control of the company to a third party. On December 31, 2025, NIS received a license from the US Treasury to continue operations until January 23, 2026.
NIS's main production facilities are located in Serbia, as well as in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, and Romania. The majority shareholders are Gazprom Neft (44.85%), Serbia (29.87%), and St. Petersburg-based JSC Intelligence, managed by Gazprom Capital (11.3%).