OFAC Grants MOL License for NIS Stake Through Feb. 2027
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has cleared MOL to handle the transfer of Russian-origin securities, but not to close the NIS transaction itself.
MOL Group has announced on its website that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the US Treasury Department, has issued an additional license to it and to its affiliate MOL Serbia Investment Kft. The license is valid until February 28, 2027 and concerns the potential acquisition of an ownership stake in NIS a.d. Novi Sad, the Petroleum Industry of Serbia.
What does the license allow MOL to do?
It permits certain transactions needed to transfer Russian-origin securities to MOL Serbia Investment Kft. According to Danas, these are securities issued by the Russian Federation. The license also covers related activities, including obtaining certain necessary approvals and consents from Russian state authorities.
In other words, MOL now has American permission for the steps that come before the transfer itself, including those taking place in Russia.
What does the license not cover?
Closing the transaction is excluded. MOL Group put it this way in a statement on its website:
This license does not authorize the closing of the transaction that would transfer Russian ownership and control of NIS. A separate OFAC authorization will be required to carry out such a transaction.
The license therefore does not change NIS’s ownership structure. For the Russian owner to lose ownership and control, MOL must request a new, separate approval from OFAC, and that approval is not part of this license.
How does the license relate to the December 11 deadline?
Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban said a day earlier that Hungary expects an agreement on taking over the Russian stake in NIS by December 11, and that all sides want to finish negotiations before that deadline. We reported on that statement yesterday.
The license expires 79 days after that date. The two limits do not mean the same thing: one is the date by which an agreement is expected, the other is the date until which the American permission for actions tied to the securities transfer is valid. MOL’s published statement does not show how the license relates to the December 11 deadline, so no such link can be asserted.
What do the reports say about the validity period?
Tanjug’s report from Budapest gives only February 28, with no year, while N1, Danas and Bizportal write February 28, 2027. All four reports agree on the other elements of the license: two beneficiaries, Russian-origin securities as the subject, and an exception for closing the transaction.
The next step that can be named is a new OFAC approval, which this license expressly leaves aside. Until then, MOL and MOL Serbia Investment Kft. can continue preparatory activities within the limits set by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
