Serbia’s energy minister said on Monday that the Russian majority owners of the country’s largest oil company, which is under U.S. sanctions, have agreed in principle to sell their stake to Hungarian energy group MOL. The move is aimed at preventing another sanctions-related shutdown of Serbia’s only oil refinery.
Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović said that MOL and Gazprom Neft had reached agreement on the basic terms of a future sale and purchase deal. She added that the proposed transaction would be submitted to the U.S. administration for approval, as required under the sanctions regime.
The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) was forced to halt operations in early December after Washington imposed sanctions as part of its broader crackdown on Russia’s energy sector. The Pančevo refinery supplies around 80% of Serbia’s fuel needs. On December 31st, the United States granted NIS a temporary reprieve, allowing the refinery to restart production on Sunday.
Đedović Handanović said the agreement itself still needs to be finalised and noted that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is also involved in negotiations. Serbia is seeking to increase its own minority stake in NIS to around 35% in order to secure greater decision-making rights.
NIS is currently 45% owned by Gazprom Neft, which is directly targeted by U.S. sanctions. Serbia sold a majority stake in the company to Gazprom in 2008.
The developments come as Budapest recently announced a five-year gas supply contract with U.S. energy company Chevron, while also maintaining Russian energy imports, which the government says help keep household energy prices among the lowest in Europe.
