The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued Hungary’s MOL Group and its subsidiary MOL Serbia Investment Kft. an additional license related to a possible acquisition of a stake in Serbian oil company NIS, MOL announced on its website earlier today.
The license is valid through Feb. 28, 2027 and allows for the completion of a number of transactions that are required before Russian-origin securities can be transferred to MOL Serbia Investment Kft. MOL stated, however, that the license does not allow the deal itself to be completed:
“The licence does not authorise the completion of the transaction resulting in the divestment of Russian ownership and control in NIS. Any such completion would require separate authorisation from OFAC.”
On Nov. 4, Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said Budapest expects an agreement on the purchase of the Russian stake in NIS to be made official by Dec. 11. She said all sides are seeking to complete the negotiations before the deadline expires.
On Oct. 21, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Siniša Mali said MOL had signed a contract to buy the Russian stake in NIS. Gazprom Neft and Gazprom together own 56.1% of the company, while the Serbian government is expected to increase its stake from 30% to 35% under a shareholder agreement with MOL.
NIS, which owns Serbia’s only oil refinery, was sanctioned by the United States in January 2025. The measures took effect in October 2025 but have since been postponed multiple times.
