site.btaHungary's MOL Group Seals Heads of Agreement to Buy 56.15% of Serbia’s NIS From Gazprom Neft

The Hungarian MOL Group signed the main clauses of a binding Heads of Agreement with Gazprom Neft to acquire a 56.15% stake in Serbia’s oil company NIS, MOL Group said on Monday, according to media outlets in Serbia.

The Russian firms Gazprom Neft and Intelligence, subsidiaries of Russian energy giant Gazprom, jointly own 56.15% of NIS. The Serbian government owns nearly 30% of the shares, while minority shareholders hold about 14%.

MOL Group and Gazprom plan to sign the sale and purchase agreement by March 31, the statement said, noting that completion of the deal, among other things, requires the consent of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as well as other State and regulatory bodies in Serbia.

After the deal is completed, MOL Group will take on significant shareholder responsibilities and management rights in the company, which operates Serbia’s only oil refinery, thus further strengthening its presence on the energy market in Central and South-Eastern Europe, MOL Group said.

The Russian side granted its consent for the sale only at the end of November, and MOL Group was among the first bidders to express interest.

NIS (Naftna industrija Srbije), Serbia’s sole oil company and operator of the Pancevo refinery, was placed under US sanctions on January 10, 2025, with the restrictions taking effect on October 9, 2025, after being postponed eight times, prompting warnings about potential secondary sanctions for institutions doing business with the company. Serbia has been operating under time-limited OFAC licensing arrangements, including a waiver allowing the Adriatic oil pipeline JANAF to continue transporting crude for NIS until January 23, 2026. The Serbian state holds about 29.9% of NIS, while the majority stake totals 56.15% and is held through Gazprom Neft (about 44.9%) and the St Petersburg-based Intelligence (about 11.3%), which is linked to Gazprom.