Terms finalized for purchase of Gazprom stake in Serbia’s biggest oil company

Hungarian state-controlled oil firm MOL has concluded negotiations with Serbia on the potential takeover of Gazprom’s majority stake in national oil company NIS, less than a week before a looming sanctions deadline.

The agreement reached between MOL and Belgrade on June 11 clears the way for MOL to acquire Gazprom’s 56.15% in NIS to keep its Pančevo operational after a special US license expires on June 16, as Serbian media reports.

MOL has not yet finalized a deal with the Russian energy giant and any deal will have to be cleared by the US Treasury.  

NIS was placed on a US sanctions list in 2025 as part of measures aimed at restricting Moscow’s war chest by limiting overseas ownership of energy assets by Russian companies. 

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently granted Gazprom and MOL a deadline extension to finalize terms. 

Pančevo, Serbia’s only refinery, shares the same June 16 expiration date for a special US license to continue operations. 

Under the new agreement, negotiations over which have been deadlocked for months, Belgrade will increase its stake in NIS by 5%, giving it a strategic management board veto.  

Under the current ownership structure, the Serbian state holds a 29.87% share in NIS, Gazprom 11.30% and its oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft 44.85% with the remaining equity held by other shareholders including private investors and past and present employees.

By Nazrin Sadigova