site.btaSerbia's NIS Contracts Import of First Oil Quantities for 2026

Serbia's national oil company NIS said on Friday it has contracted the import of the first quantities of crude oil via the Adriatic Pipeline (JANAF) for the needs of the Pancevo Oil Refinery, which will enable the resumption of production at the facility.

The first quantities of crude oil are expected to be delivered to the Pancevo Oil Refinery during the coming week, while the company plans to import additional volumes of crude oil, according to a news report published on the NIS website.

In line with the delivery schedule, NIS also plans to start initial activities at the Pancevo refinery.

At the beginning of December last year, operations at Pancevo, the only oil refinery in Serbia, were suspended due to a shortage of crude oil for refining, caused by sanctions imposed on NIS by the US Department of the Treasury.

With a special license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury on December 31, NIS was once again allowed to conduct operational activities until January 23 of this year, including the resumption of refinery processing, crude oil imports, and carrying out transactions necessary for the security of supply and technical maintenance.

Earlier, OFAC issued a license to NIS Serbia extending the deadline for negotiations over the sale of the Russian stake in the company until March 24, 2026, while the previous license set a deadline for changing the ownership structure of February 13.

Due to the war in Ukraine, NIS was placed under US sanctions on January 10, 2025, which came into effect on October 9 after being postponed eight times. At that time, Washington stipulated a full withdrawal of Russian capital from the Serbian company.

The Serbian state owns 29.9% of NIS shares, while the main shareholder remains Gazprom Neft with 44.9%. At the end of September, a Saint Petersburg-based company, Intelligence, linked to Gazprom, acquired an 11.3% stake from the parent company Gazprom.

At the end of November, the Russian side agreed to sell its stake. So far, it is known that the Hungarian oil company MOL has expressed interest in purchasing part of the Russian share in the Serbian company, and its representatives visited Serbia a few days ago.