Hungarian corporation MOL and Russian company Gazprom Neft have reached an agreement on terms, according to which the Hungarian company will take control of Serbia's only oil refinery - Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic announced on January 19.
“MOL and Gazprom have agreed on the basic terms of the future purchase agreement. This is what the US government requires and will therefore be sent to the US government to make a decision” - Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said.
This deal is likely to pave the way for the lifting of US sanctions against the factory operator.
Serbia is also seeking to increase its state ownership ratio by nearly 30% at Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) by 5% with the goal of "reaching a shareholding level that allows increased decision-making participation".
Abu Dhabi National Oil and Gas Company is also likely to participate in this agreement, depending on the developments of the agreement in the future, Minister Djedovic Handanovic added to the press in Belgrade.
The Serbian Minister of Energy revealed that the purchase and sale could be completed before March 24, but did not provide information on prices or share allocation.
US sanctions against NIS, announced 1 year ago but effective from October 2025, have disrupted oil transportation through the Adriatic pipeline from Croatia, forcing Serbia to rely on emergency shipments from Mol to avoid fuel shortages.
Washington's sanctions against NIS are part of Russia's campaign to tighten its energy sector, which forced the NIS oil refinery to shut down in early December 2025. This refinery supplies about 80% of Serbia's fuel demand.
However, by December 31, 2025, the US had temporarily eased sanctions against NIS. By the end of last week, Serbia's oil refinery had restarted fuel production.
NIS was licensed by the Overseas Assets Control Office (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department to continue operating until January 23, and was also allowed to negotiate the sale of shares until March 24.
In 2008, Serbia sold controlling shares in NIS to Gazprom for 400 million euros, equivalent to about 470 million USD at the current exchange rate. Since then, the Russian corporation has invested billions of euros more in this company.
Gazprom Neft is holding 45% of NIS shares and is directly subject to sanctions from the US. The parent company Gazprom transferred 11.3% of NIS shares in September last year to the affiliated company Intelligence.
MOL's stock has increased by 20% since the beginning of the year as investors predicted a deal to acquire the oil and gas company in Serbia. MOL is currently operating oil refineries in Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia.
