SERBIA AND MOL REACH COMPROMISE OVER NIS: Pančevo Refinery to Continue Operations, State to Purchase Additional Five Percent Stake!

Serbia has successfully resolved all outstanding issues with the Hungarian energy company MOL and reached a compromise regarding the Shareholder Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and MOL, Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović announced on her Instagram account.

According to the minister, Serbia and MOL agreed on several key points, including the following:

If Gazprom Neft reaches an agreement with MOL on the sale of its 56.15 percent stake in NIS, and the transaction receives approval from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Serbian state will purchase an additional five percent stake in NIS. This would grant Serbia expanded rights in making or blocking important decisions affecting the country’s interests.

Regarding the operation of the Pančevo Refinery, the Hungarian side has committed to maintaining refinery operations at current levels, with at least the same average annual capacity as during the four years preceding the introduction of U.S. sanctions, a period in which NIS recorded strong business results.

The continued operation of the refinery at a level sufficient to meet Serbia’s domestic demand for petroleum products was one of the key issues for the Serbian side, the minister emphasized.

“This level of refinery activity, which is necessary to supply the Serbian fuel market, was one of the most important issues for Serbia. I am proud that we succeeded in reaching a very important and beneficial agreement for the citizens of Serbia,” Đedović Handanović stated.

She also noted that Serbian representatives on the NIS Board of Directors will have broader powers than before, both in making decisions and in blocking any decisions that could be unfavorable to the Republic of Serbia.

Прикажи ову објаву у апликацији Instagram

Објава коју дели Dubravka Đedović Handanović (@dubravka.djedovic)

“Such influence has not been available to the Serbian state since 2008, when NIS was privatized,” she added.

The minister stressed that efforts are continuing to find a long-term solution for NIS following the imposition of U.S. sanctions.

“We remain fully committed to finding a long-term solution for NIS in light of the U.S. sanctions, for which neither the Republic of Serbia, its Government, nor its citizens bear any responsibility,” Đedović Handanović wrote on Instagram.

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