OFAC Extends NIS License, Operations Run to July 31

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended the operating license of Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) by another 30 days, until July 31, 2026, Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic announced on Instagram around 9:31 a.m. on July 1. The deadline that had been set to expire that same day therefore brought no shutdown, but a continuation of processing at the Pancevo refinery.

The decision came five days after NIS filed a fresh request with OFAC for a special license on June 26. The previous approval was due to lapse on July 1, and the deadline had already been pushed back from June 17, making this the second extension in a short sequence. For a company whose Pancevo plant is the country’s only crude oil refinery, each of these 30-day windows means continued supply of refined products to the domestic market.

What does the extension actually change for the refinery?

An operating license is the instrument OFAC uses to temporarily exempt a sanctioned entity from the full weight of restrictive measures, in this case so the Pancevo refinery can keep processing crude. Without that carve-out, business partners and banks face secondary-sanctions risk, prompting crude suppliers and service providers to cut ties. The extension to July 31 keeps that channel open for another month.

OFAC imposed the sanctions on October 9, 2025, because NIS is majority-owned by Russian capital. Since then the company has operated under a regime of temporary approvals, where each expiry raises the question of continuity in processing and crude imports. Djedovic Handanovic stressed that the extension lets the refinery keep running, which matters for supply stability amid disruption on global energy markets.

Who gains time and what gets settled by July 31

The extension buys time for talks on the ownership structure. Russian majority control of NIS is the reason for the sanctions, so the fix is being sought in an ownership change that would satisfy the US administration. Each new 30-day license is effectively a signal that talks continue, but have not yet been closed by a shareholder agreement that would take NIS off the list for good.

For Serbia and the domestic market, the short-term effect is relief: the refinery runs, supply is uninterrupted, and the scenario of an abrupt plant shutdown is deferred by at least a month. For NIS, however, business stays in a regime of uncertainty in which long-term capital-investment decisions are hard to make while the license status hinges on renewal every 30 days.

The question of what follows after July 31 also stays open. If no ownership deal is reached by then, a new extension will be needed, or a negotiation over a more lasting solution will begin. Until then, the Pancevo refinery is running, and the sanctions calendar remains the main factor setting the pace for the country’s largest oil company.

Will the next deadline bring an ownership deal, or another 30-day extension?