NIS: NEW LICENSE ENABLES UNINTERRUPTED OPERATIONS

BELGRADE, AUGUST 28 /SRNA/ - Serbia’s oil company NIS confirmed that it had received a new special licence from the US Treasury Department allowing it to continue its operational activities without interruption through September 30.

The new licence allows NIS to maintain its operations, contracts and other agreements involving the company or its operating subsidiaries, including refinery processing, crude oil imports, transactions necessary to ensure security of supply and technical maintenance, as well as financial settlements. Ensuring uninterrupted operations, maintaining a reliable supply of petroleum products to the domestic market and preserving the social stability of its employees remain the priorities, NIS said. The previous operational licence allowing NIS to operate was valid through today, August 28. The licence granted to Hungary’s MOL to continue negotiations on the purchase of the majority Russian stake in NIS also expires today. Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović said that the extension of NIS’s licence was a signal that progress was being made and that there was a willingness to provide the additional time needed to complete the complex transaction, Tanjug reported. She said the extension allowed NIS to continue operating, including the operation of its oil refinery in Pančevo, and added that negotiations between Hungary’s MOL and majority owner Gazprom Neft were in their final stage. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control /OFAC/ imposed sanctions on NIS on October 9, 2025, over its majority Russian ownership. On January 19 this year, MOL Group announced that it had signed the key provisions of a binding framework agreement with Gazprom Neft to acquire a 56.15% stake in the Serbian company.