Serbia will not allow a recently formed local company to purchase a majority stake in its Russian-owned ?NIS oil firm because it lacks expertise, President ?Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.
A company called KFT Senator Treasury G.T.7 Two LLC (Senator) - founded just last August and run by a local ?businessman, Ranko Mimovic - said on Wednesday that it offered ?to purchase a 51.16% stake in NIS from Russia's ?Gazprom Neft and Gazprom for 2 billion euros ($2.35 billion).
The ?bid would represent a challenge to Hungary's MOL, which is ?negotiating the purchase of a majority stake in NIS, a key condition for the United States to lift sanctions on the company that ?operates Serbia's only oil refinery.
"He's (Mimovic) never dealt with (crude oil ?processing) in his life, and now he’s going to buy it (NIS) ... Serbia ?won't ?allow it," Vucic told reporters in Belgrade.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on NIS last October, as part of wider measures against Russia over its war ?in Ukraine, ?and demanded the ?divestment of shares owned by the Russian companies.
In a statement on Wednesday, Gazprom Neft ?said it was actively preparing to sell its ?stake ?in NIS to MOL and that it was not negotiating with anyone else.
Gazprom holds an 11.3% stake in NIS, while ?Gazprom ?Neft owns 44.9%. The Serbian government ?owns 29.9%, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees.
Serbia Dissatisfied with Refinery Purchase Talks with MOL, Energy Minister Says
Serbia is not satisfied with Hungarian oil company MOL's proposals for the purchase of its sole refinery, NIS, whose Russian ?owners are seeking to sell their majority stake, the country's ?energy minister said on Thursday.
The Serbian government, representing the state's 29.9% stake in NIS, is involved in talks with MOL aimed at settling relations between ?Belgrade and the new prospective majority owner.
They are separate from ?MOL's negotiations with NIS's current majority owners, Russia's Gazprom and ?Gazprom Neft.
Following a meeting with MOL representatives in Belgrade, Dubravka Djedovic ?Handanovic said in a video on Instagram that the Serbian side ?was concerned about future operations "so that refinery processing ... covers the Serbian market to a certain extent."
The talks between Serbia and MOL also focused on past NIS obligations ?MOL should fulfil, Djedovic Handanovic said.
"Disagreements involved past obligations undertaken by ?NIS that are important to Serbia, and how to enable them to either ?be ?fulfilled or for the state to receive appropriate compensation," she said without specifying further.
She said Serbia remains committed to more talks.
MOL did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Gazprom holds an 11.3% stake ?in NIS, while ?Gazprom Neft ?owns 44.9%.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on NIS as part of wider ?measures targeting Russia's energy sector over the war in Ukraine ?and demanded ?the divestment of the NIS shares owned by Gazprom Neft and Gazprom.
MOL signed an agreement on January 19 to buy the combined Gazprom ?Neft and ?Gazprom stakes, and Washington gave the Russian ?companies until May 22 to complete the sale. Serbia also wants to increase its ?stake by an additional 5%.
(Reuters, May 7, 2026)
