MOL Takeover of NIS: Rumors Are Rife in Serbia

NIS headquarters in Novi Sad

On January 1, extraordinary events unfolded in connection with the Serbian oil company NIS, which have had a massive impact on MOL and also on Hungary. It currently looks as if the Hungarian oil company will officially become the owner of Serbia’s only oil company within a few weeks, Világgazdaság summarizes.

The U.S. recently agreed to allow the Serbian oil company NIS to negotiate the sale of its Russian stake in the oil refinery until March 24, 2026. However, there was a catch: NIS has not yet received an operating license to purchase and process crude oil. The background to this is that the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions in October as part of punitive measures against the Russian energy sector. As a result, the transport of crude oil via the Janaf pipeline through Croatia was halted, bringing production at the plant in Pančevo – Serbia’s only oil refinery – to a standstill.

Russia’s Gazprom holds an 11.3% stake in NIS, while its subsidiary Gazpromneft holds a 44.9% stake. The Serbian government holds a 29.9% stake, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees.

In recent days, it was officially announced that Hungary’s MOL and NIS had submitted a joint application to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to suspend sanctions against NIS for the duration of negotiations on changing the ownership structure. This was reported by the Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy. It is particularly noteworthy that MOL has already been able to take action on this matter.

NIS announced that the U.S. Treasury Department had granted them a special license on December 31, allowing the company to continue operations until January 23, 2026.

This allows NIS to continue its activities, including resuming refinery processing, importing crude oil, and carrying out transactions necessary for security of supply and technical maintenance.

NIS refinery in Pančevo (Pantschowa). Photo: NIS ad/Wikimedia Commons

January 23 also means that the purchase agreement with the new owner of NIS, which as things stand could be MOL, can be finalized by then.

Another important development was that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić indirectly confirmed on January 1 that Hungary’s MOL will buy NIS. Although the Serbian head of state did not mention MOL by name, he clearly alluded to it when he confirmed the ongoing negotiations and said:

I hope that the Russians and Hungarians will complete their work.”

He set January 18 as the deadline. At the same time, he expressed hope that there would be enough fuel available to meet the country’s entire demand. Vučić made these comments to journalists. Beyond the implications for Hungary, he made another important announcement, namely that NIS would begin procuring and processing crude oil immediately after the holidays and that the refinery would be running at full capacity around January 18.

Aleksandar Vučić. Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi

In any case, the fact that the Serbian president has now set January 18 as the date confirms that Serbia has received American approval for the NIS deal. But there was another important statement from the Serbian president. Vučić gave an interview in which he clarified an important issue: “I would like to tell citizens that we have suffered very serious consequences because the refinery was not in operation. Our industrial production declined in November and December due to the refinery shutdown. This has had a drastic and dramatic impact on the state of our economy.”

And since I hear conspiracy theories that the refinery will be shut down and that the Hungarians will close it, as they did in Croatia or elsewhere: it will not be shut down.

“Because Serbia is also an owner, with a 29.87% stake, and we also have a say. In the future, we will try to buy a few more percentage points to get above the one-third threshold so that we can not only control and monitor NIS even more closely, so to speak, but also participate in the management of the company,” President Vučić dispelled the rumors surrounding a possible takeover by MOL.

Related article

MOL and NIS Request Suspension of U.S. Sanctions Until End of Negotiations

Hungarian company MOL seeks temporary suspension of sanctions to facilitate purchase of Russian stakes in Serbia’s NIS, supported by both governments.Continue reading

Via Világgazdaság; Featured image: Wikimedia Commons

The post MOL Takeover of NIS: Rumors Are Rife in Serbia appeared first on Hungary Today.

Source link