Gazprom Neft stalls NIS sale, five days to OFAC deadline
Aleksandar Dyukov says closing the sale of a 56.15 percent NIS stake to MOL needs more time, while the US OFAC license expires on July 1. The shareholder deal only takes effect with Moscow's sign-off and Washington's approval.
- Gazprom Neft chief Aleksandar Dyukov said on June 25 that closing the NIS sale still needs more time.
- The OFAC license for NIS expires on July 1, 2026, leaving just five days.
- The transaction covers a 56.15 percent stake, the share held by the Russian side.
- The Serbia-MOL shareholder deal takes effect only with Moscow's agreement and Washington's approval.
Gazprom Neft chief executive Aleksandar Dyukov said on June 25 that more time is needed to complete the sale of the company’s stake in Naftna Industrija Srbije, calling the deal complex. The remark landed five days before the operating license that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended to NIS until July 1, 2026, and in practice it means the sale of the 56.15 percent stake will not close before that date.
The package at stake has so far been held by Russian shareholders: Gazprom Neft and related parties hold 56.15 percent of NIS, while the Serbian state holds 29.87 percent and the remainder trades freely on the Belgrade Stock Exchange. The sanctions Washington imposed on NIS on October 9, 2025, target precisely that Russian majority, and the US has since insisted on the exit of Russian capital as the condition for easing the pressure. Each license extension buys time for the Pancevo refinery, but does not settle the ownership question.
What exactly is blocking the close?
The shareholder agreement between the Serbian government and Hungary’s MOL was signed in mid-June. Under that document, Serbia gains an additional 5 percent of NIS, and the Pancevo refinery’s operation is guaranteed for at least ten years. The catch is that the agreement only takes effect under two conditions: that MOL and Gazprom Neft close their own purchase of the Russian stake, and that OFAC approves that transaction. In other words, the Serbian-Hungarian part of the deal is done on paper, but without a Russian signature and US consent it remains unfinished.
Dyukov’s wording, that more time is needed, shifts the focus away from Belgrade and Budapest toward Moscow. Gazprom Neft is the seller, and a seller that publicly states the deal is not ripe for closing holds the leverage to set the pace. Unlike earlier due diligence phases, where the bargaining centered on valuation, the dispute now is only about time: will the Russian side manage, or want, to finalize before the expiry of the one license keeping the refinery clear of the full force of sanctions?
Who carries the risk if the deadline passes?
The greatest exposure sits with the Pancevo refinery, Serbia’s only large processing facility. If July 1 passes without a close and without a new license extension, NIS re-enters the zone of full US sanctions, which hits crude supply through the Adriatic pipeline and the company’s payment operations. Serbia, which under the MOL deal raises its stake and secures the refinery guarantee, has every interest in seeing the transaction close, but has no lever on the Russian side.
MOL as the buyer is waiting for the Russian seller to confirm price and terms, while OFAC as the regulator holds the final word. Three parties are aligned, the fourth, Gazprom Neft, says it needs time, and the calendar is unforgiving: five days is rarely enough to close an energy acquisition of this size. The open question is simple: is Dyukov’s statement laying the ground for another license extension, or a sign that the Russian side is not yet ready to give up control of NIS?
