OFAC Rules Today on Three Licenses for NIS, MOL, JANAF
NIS's OFAC license expires today, with a decision expected this afternoon. Permits for MOL and JANAF are also pending, and talks on the Russian stake in NIS hit their deadline the same day.
The operating license that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department issued to Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) expires today, September 30, 2026, and three decisions are expected from Washington the same day: for NIS, for Hungary’s MOL and for Croatia’s JANAF. According to RTS, an answer could come this afternoon, around 5 p.m. There is no official confirmation as of publication.
Which three licenses is Serbia waiting for?
Serbia expects OFAC to decide on:
- a license for NIS, so the company can keep operating after its current permit expires;
- a license for MOL, so it can continue the final talks on buying the Russian majority stake in NIS;
- a license for JANAF, so it can keep delivering crude oil through the Adria pipeline to the Pancevo Refinery.
The Pancevo refinery processes about 13,000 tons of crude a day, and domestic demand for October is estimated at about 205,000 tons of diesel, according to figures the Ministry of Mining and Energy released during September, as reported by NS Reporter. The JANAF-NIS contract runs until December 31.
What did NIS ask for, and when?
NIS filed its new application with OFAC on September 24. The company announced it this way:
“NIS has submitted to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department a new application for a special license that would allow the company to carry on its operating activities without disruption after September 30, when the term of the previous license expires.”
Earlier licenses were issued for short terms, several times for one month. The latest was issued at the end of August and was valid until September 30. OFAC imposed sanctions on NIS on October 9, 2025, because of its majority Russian ownership, Sputnik Serbia reports. We previously covered the pressure from US senators: Wilson and Self asked Bessent not to grant NIS a license. Today’s deadline and the third license, for JANAF, come after that.
What do sources say about the outcome?
Sputnik Serbia claims, without naming a source, that the state leadership has received signals that OFAC will extend the license today, which would also give Gazprom Neft and MOL extra time for talks. There is no confirmation from Washington so far.
Jasna Stojanovic Petrovic, economics editor at “Politika,” said on RTS’s Morning News: “We can hope for a positive decision, but we will wait for the afternoon, probably around five o’clock.” She expects a positive outcome because of recent contacts with the Americans:
“I assume that, given last week’s visit, the address at the United Nations and the talks held on the sidelines with representatives of the highest American leadership, we will get the license extension.”
She also wants the new license to run longer than before:
“it would be nice if they treated us to it, and it would be even nicer if that license were longer than a month, because this has been going on for two years now, as long as you and I have been talking about it, it is torture for NIS”
On a lasting solution, she is less optimistic. In her words, the announcements of a final decision by the end of September did not pan out:
“I think we are getting further from a solution, unfortunately, even though we initially had announcements that a final decision would, that is, be made at the end of September.”
She adds that MOL is no longer mentioned as a potential buyer, which differs from Sputnik’s account that MOL signed a framework agreement on January 19, 2026 to buy 56.15 percent of NIS. Nova.rs and Danas report that the deadline for talks between MOL and Gazprom Neft also expires today. Stojanovic Petrovic expects the Russian owner to stay:
“The Russians will not leave here, they will stay for as long as the sanctions keep being extended. NIS did not come to Serbia to leave, but to stay here.”
What would a missing license mean for supply?
Stojanovic Petrovic warns that without an extension there would be supply problems, because JANAF, as she puts it, would not import oil under a ban from the European Union and the United States. Imported petroleum products, she adds, cost more than oil itself. Renting a supertanker costs about $800,000 a day, and in her estimate the shipping price for Serbia is 4.5 times higher than before February 28, when the war in the Middle East began.
NS Reporter says the price of crude has again been above $100 a barrel in recent days and that the state has announced the release of 5,000 tons of Euro diesel from reserves. Serbia’s gas arrangement with Russia also expires today. Aleksandar Vucic, who discussed it by phone with Vladimir Putin, announced its extension, and Stojanovic Petrovic expects no problems, at a price of $318 per thousand cubic meters.
Whether the new license will run longer than a month will be known when OFAC publishes its decision.
