BELGRADE, October 30. /TASS/. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended the operating license for the sanctioned Serbian oil company NIS (Naftna Industrija Srbije) until December 11, according to the national broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).
NIS submitted an extension request to OFAC for its current operating license on October 24, which was set to expire on October 30.
The owners of NIS have been compelled to sell their assets due to US sanctions. In January 2025, the US Treasury added the Serbian company, along with its majority shareholder Gazprom Neft, to its sanctions list. Following several deferrals, the restrictions took effect on October 9 of that year. On November 11, 2025, the Serbian Ministry of Energy reported that the Russian owners of NIS had notified the US of their readiness to transfer control of the company to a third party.
On January 19, Gazprom and the Hungarian group MOL announced the signing of a memorandum of intent regarding the sale of a stake in NIS. Serbian authorities have announced plans to increase their own stake in the company by 5%, which will allow Belgrade to influence certain shareholder meeting decisions.
