Serbia and Hungarian MOL have signed an agreement on the terms of the purchase of the Russian Federation's stake in NIS.

The Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, together with the Serbian government, has signed an agreement on the future management of the Serbian oil refinery Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) in the event of the acquisition of NIS from Gazprom Neft. This follows from the company's press release, which was published on June 16.

"The agreement will enter into force only if MOL and Gazprom Neft agree on the purchase and it is approved by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department. In accordance with the agreement approved by the Serbian government, we will acquire an additional 5 percent stake in NIS, and the refinery will operate for at least the next ten years at the same capacity as it did for four years before the imposition of U.S. sanctions," the text says.

It is noted that the next stage after the signing of the current agreement is the completion of the purchase and sale agreement between MOL Group and Gazprom Neft for the acquisition of 56.15% of NIS shares. It is noted that one of the key conditions for the completion of the transaction is the approval of OFAC.

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On January 19, the MOL press service announced the signing of a preliminary binding agreement to acquire a 56.15% stake in NIS. Upon completion of the transaction, MOL will receive significant control rights and shareholder responsibilities in the company, which operates the only oil refinery in Serbia.

On June 7, Reuters reported that OFAC extended the deadline for negotiations on the acquisition of Russian NIS shares by the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL until June 16.