Serbia plans to present its concluding proposal to MOL on Friday concerning the Hungarian company’s bid to buy NIS, which runs the Balkan nation’s sole refinery, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said.
The sale originates from an agreement in January in which Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Gazprom consented to divest their combined 56% majority stake in NIS to MOL. That divestment followed U.S. demands tied to sanctions related to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Because the Serbian state owns 29.9% of NIS, government approval is required for the transaction to proceed. Washington has imposed a May 22 deadline for the Russian companies and MOL to finalize the sale, a timeline that remains in place.
Officials in Belgrade have been negotiating directly with MOL separate from the company’s talks with Gazprom and Gazprom Neft. The government has expressed interest in increasing Serbia’s holding in NIS by 5% as part of its engagement with MOL.
"We had intensive discussions with representatives of MOL yesterday and the day before yesterday, we agreed on certain issues," Djedovic Handanovic was quoted as saying by Serbia’s Tanjug news agency. She added that a few matters remain unresolved and that the most important concern for the government is the future operation of the refinery.
According to the minister, the Serbian government will submit its final position on NIS to MOL by the end of Friday. MOL’s board is then scheduled to consider and decide on the company’s response on Monday.
She did not provide additional specifics on the contents of the government’s proposal when discussing the timing and outstanding issues.
Context and process
The transaction involves three primary parties: Gazprom and Gazprom Neft as the current majority shareholders seeking to divest, MOL as the prospective buyer, and the Serbian government as a minority shareholder whose consent is required. Negotiations between the Serbian government and MOL are distinct from the parallel negotiations between MOL and the Russian sellers.
The government’s expressed objective of increasing its stake by 5% is part of its discussions with MOL, though details of how that change would be implemented were not disclosed by the minister.