In a letter to Serbia's finance ministry, OFAC said that the licence remains valid, provided that transactions do not involve U.S. entities or the U.S. financial system, are not conducted on behalf of, or to the benefit of, any blocked entity other than NIS, and do not include activities subject to sanctions under U.S. regulations related to Russia and Ukraine, RTS reported, without specifying its sources.
The operating licence of NIS [BEL:NIIS] was due to expire on January 23.
On Monday, MOL said it has signed a binding heads of agreement with Gazprom Neft to acquire its 56.15% stake in the Serbian company. MOL also said it is in talks with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on the United Arab Emirates national oil company becoming a minority shareholder in NIS, with MOL retaining majority ownership and control.
In addition, Serbia has signed a memorandum of understanding with MOL that would allow the state to increase its stake in NIS by 5%, according to energy minister Djedovic Handanovic.
NIS is 44.85% owned by Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Gazprom. Serbia's government has a 29.87% stake, and St. Petersburg-based Intelligence, a company indirectly controlled by Gazprom, has 11.3%. The remainder belongs to a number of minority shareholders.
The U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on NIS over the company's Russian ownership in January 2025. The implementation of the restrictions was postponed several times before they took effect in October, with OFAC demanding a complete exit of Russian firms from the refiner, and giving NIS until March 24 to negotiate the sale of the Russian stake.
MOL and Gazprom Neft aim to sign the sales and purchase agreement for NIS by March 31, subject to approval by OFAC and regulatory approvals in Serbia, MOL has said.
Last month, OFAC granted NIS a temporary operating licence through January 23, allowing it to restart crude oil imports through Croatia's Janaf pipeline and resume production at its 4.8 mt/y refinery in Pancevo, which it shut down in early December due to the sanctions.
Apart from operating the Pancevo oil refinery, NIS runs the largest fuel retail network in Serbia, with 327 petrol stations, and supplies 80% of fuels consumed domestically. The Serbian company is also active in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Romania and employs about 14,000 people.
(SeeNews, January 23, 2026)