On June 16, Serbia and the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL signed an agreement outlining the terms for purchasing the Russian Federation’s stake in the Serbian oil refinery Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS). The deal follows a company press release and stipulates that it will take effect only after MOL and Gazprom Neft agree on purchase terms and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) approves it. Under the arrangement approved by the Serbian government, MOL will acquire an additional 5 percent stake in NIS and ensure the refinery operates for at least ten years at the same capacity it maintained over the past four years prior to the imposition of U.S. sanctions.
The next step involves finalizing a purchase and sale agreement between MOL Group and Gazprom Neft for the acquisition of 56.15% of NIS shares, with OFAC approval being one of the critical conditions for completing the transaction.
