MOL Asks OFAC for 30 More Days for NIS Negotiations
Instead of the expected reply on Serbia's Pancevo proposal, MOL formally asked the US OFAC on June 3 for a 30-day extension, three days before the licence expires.
- MOL asked the US OFAC on June 3 for a 30-day extension of the negotiations over NIS.
- The current negotiating licence expires on June 6, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic confirmed from Saint Petersburg.
- Gazprom Neft's Aleksandar Djukov confirmed that active talks with MOL are continuing.
- NIS will also seek a new extension of its operating licence, which expires on June 16.
Hungarian company MOL asked the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on June 3 for a 30-day extension of the talks on a solution for Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS). Three days before the current licence, valid until June 6, runs out, the picture has shifted: instead of a reply to Serbia’s proposal on running the Pancevo refinery, what is now on the table is a request for more time.
The move was confirmed by Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, who spoke from Saint Petersburg at the International Economic Forum. The minister said the Hungarian side was seeking additional time to finish the talks and that there was a will to reach a solution.
MOL today filed a request with the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for a 30-day extension of the deadline.
Why is MOL seeking an extension instead of a reply?
According to earlier statements by Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, Serbia had sent MOL a new proposal on running the Pancevo refinery, with an answer expected on June 3 or 4. Instead of that answer, MOL decided to ask the regulator for more time, signalling that the open questions around the country’s largest oil processing facility were not closed within the planned window.
MOL chief executive Zsolt Hernadi confirmed the day before that the request had been filed and that there was a will to find a solution. On the Russian side, Gazprom Neft management board chairman Aleksandar Djukov confirmed that active talks between Gazprom Neft and MOL on a solution for NIS were continuing. All three actors, the Serbian side, the Hungarian buyer and the Russian stakeholder, thus signalled on the same day that the process remains open.
Djedovic Handanovic also explained the Hungarian position:
The Hungarian side has asked for additional time to finish the talks; on their side there is a will to reach a solution.
What comes before and after June 16?
The extension request now awaits a decision by OFAC, which has so far ruled neither on the request itself nor on Serbia’s Pancevo proposal. In parallel, NIS will also seek a new extension of its operating licence, which expires on June 16, opening a second deadline crucial for the refinery’s uninterrupted operation.
The move follows two earlier steps. Earlier this month, through the proposal announced by Sinisa Mali, the Serbian side tried to define a model for running the Pancevo refinery. At the same time, the Serbian government extended its ban on exports of oil and oil derivatives until July 2, to secure domestic supplies while ownership remains uncertain.
The open questions stay the same: whether OFAC will grant the extra 30 days, how the Russian stake will be resolved, and whether the Pancevo refinery will keep running without supply disruptions. Does an extension mean a NIS solution is near, or that the talks are entering a longer phase?
