Serbia Submits Final Bid to Hungary's MOL for NIS Takeover

Serbia will submit its final offer to MOL on Friday in connection with the takeover of NIS, the oil company that operates the country's only refinery. Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic made the announcement.

Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom agreed in January to sell their 56% stake in NIS to Hungary's MOL after the United States demanded the divestment of Russian shares as part of sanctions against Moscow. Washington gave the parties until 22 May to complete the transaction.

The sale also requires approval from the Serbian government, which owns nearly 30% of NIS and wants to increase its stake by a further five percentage points.

The minister said negotiations with MOL had been intensive in recent days and that agreement had been reached on a number of points. She identified the future operation of the refinery as a key issue.

The United States imposed sanctions on NIS last October over the company's Russian ownership. It has since received a number of waivers from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

(reuters, bak)