Serbia's Russian-owned NIS oil firm gets another sanctions reprieve from US (updated)

Nis ad Novi Sad

30/06/2026 22:25

Adds context, background
BELGRADE, June 30 (Reuters) - Serbia's Russian-owned NIS oil firm secured another sanctions reprieve from the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control until July 31, Serbian energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic posted on Instagram on Tuesday. 
     The waiver granted by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control will allow NIS, which operates Serbia's only oil refinery, to continue importing crude oil until the sale of a  Russian majority stake to Hungary's MOL MOLB.BU. The previous waiver expires on Wednesday. 
OFAC imposed sanctions on NIS in October as part of wider measures targeting Russia's energy sector over the war in  Ukraine, and demanded divestment of Gazprom Neft and Gazprom,  its Russian majority owners.
MOL signed an agreement on January 19  to buy a combined  Gazprom Neft and Gazprom 56% stake in NIS. After several extensions, OFAC last gave companies until Wednesday to complete the sale.
     Serbia also wants to increase its stake in NIS by an additional 5%. Gazprom holds an 11.3% stake in NIS, while its sanctioned oil unit Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%. The Serbian government owns  29.9%, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees.
     

(Reproting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Porter)
((aleksandar.vasovic@thomsonreuters.com))