NIS Oil Industry of Serbia NIS A.D.

The NIS Group is one of the vertically integrated energy systems of Southeast Europe.

The main activities of the company are exploration, production and processing of oil and natural gas, sales of the range of processed products, as well as the implementation of projects in the field of petrochemistry and power. The company's headquarters and main production facilities are located in Serbia. These are oil and gas fields, the Panchevo oil refinery, oil depots and a network of gas stations.

2026: Hungarian MOL Group buys NIS from Gazprom Neft

In January 2026, the Hungarian MOL Group signed a binding agreement (Heads of Agreement) with Gazprom Neft on the purchase of a majority stake in NIS. MOL transfers the entire Russian stake in 56.15% of NIS shares. The signing of the purchase and sale agreement is planned until March 31.

Negotiations with the Emirati ADNOC on the entry into the capital of NIS as a minority shareholder have also been confirmed. This is a guarantee of the "purity" of the deal for the American regulator. Raising Arab capital is a way to definitively legitimize the asset's transition and get final OFAC approval, without which the deal will not take place.

At the same time, MOL retains majority control, and the Serbian authorities, according to Energy Minister Dubravka Jedovic-Handanovic, managed to increase their share in the NIS by 5% during the negotiations, from the previous 29.9% to about 34.9%.

The deal opens up opportunities to create an integrated energy market for Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia and strengthen their energy sovereignty in the face of pressure from the West.

2025

US extended the period of negotiations on the sale of shares of Russian founders

In December 2025, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended the deadline for negotiations on the sale of the Russian stake in the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) until March 24, 2026.

NIS ownership structure:

Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%, and Gazprom (through its subsidiary Intellijens) - 11.3%. The Serbian government owns 29.9%.

Potential buyers are the Emirati company ADNOC (the main favorite of the deal) and the Hungarian MOL, with which negotiations are underway to buy a smaller share (about 11.3%).

NIS provides the vast majority of Serbia's fuel market and about 9% of the country's annual budget. The company also owns the only refinery in Serbia (Pancevo), which actually stopped work in October, after the cessation of supplies through the Croatian oil pipeline JANAF.

OFAC denied NIS an operating license that would allow the company to operate without the threat of sanctions.

Serbia's own reserves of oil products are running out: with the onset of the New Year, the country may face a complete fuel collapse. The decision to extend the negotiations is a continuation of geopolitical blackmail that puts Serbia on the brink of an energy collapse.

Shutdown of the company's operations through SWIFT due to US sanctions and stopping oil supplies through the Croatian JANAF pipeline

In October 2025, US sanctions against the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) entered into force. Financial transactions through SWIFT are suspended, and the Croatian JANAF pipeline has stopped supplying oil to the Pančevo plant.

The imposition of sanctions will be a serious blow for Serbia: the NIS provides up to 9% of the country's state budget. The Panchevo refinery will be able to operate only until November 1 without new oil supplies. And although the Serbian authorities managed to accumulate impressive fuel reserves, including 342 thousand tons of diesel, 66 thousand tons of gasoline, as well as fuel oil for boiler houses, these volumes will only last until the end of the year.

Croatia also came under attack:

NIS is a key partner of JANAF and provides more than 30% of the company's revenues. Chairman of the Board Stepan Adanich has already calculated that Croatia's losses by the end of the year will amount to €18 million.

However, enterprising Croats are looking for benefits in the crisis: they have already targeted the energy market of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), where the NIS provides up to 20% of all supplies. The Croatian government plans to complete the modernization of the Rijeka refinery by the end of the month and take the share of NIS in BiH. Moreover, the Minister of Economy of Croatia Ante Shushnyar even "nobly" offered to buy the NIS.

There has already been repeated talk of a possible nationalization of the company. And if at first glance this may seem like an excellent solution, in fact, nationalization is likely to be the first step towards reselling assets to Western "investors." The British Flystar Flight Support just very conveniently received a license to trade in oil in Serbia.

A reliable way out of the situation may be the extension of the Druzhba oil pipeline from Hungary to Serbia, which will allow the country to receive Russian oil directly. However, construction will be completed no earlier than 2027, and fuel in Serbia will end much faster. Western countries are methodically trying to drive the Serbian leadership into a corner, leaving them no choice.

11.3% of the shares of the Serbian oil company NIS were transferred to JSC Inteligens

The owner of an 11.3% stake in the Serbian oil company NIS has changed. Instead of PJSC Gazprom, it became JSC Inteligens. This was announced by NIS in September 2025. Inteligens is managed by Gazprom Capital LLC, in whose hands the financial investments of the Gazprom group are concentrated. The share changed the owner on September 19, 2025 "on the basis of an agreement on the free assignment/transfer of shares of the joint-stock company." In the direct possession of PJSC Gazprom, one NIS share remained.^[1]

US imposes sanctions on company

On January 10, 2025, the United States imposed sanctions against the Serbian company Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), 56% of which belongs to the Russian Gazpromneft and Gazprom.

The sanctions are really serious, and can affect the economy of all of Serbia, as well as the loss of a large asset for Russia.

According to the leadership of Serbia, since the imposition of sanctions, nothing more can be done: even if Russia sells its part, the restrictions will immediately apply to buyers. The United States demands the complete withdrawal of Russian investors from NIS. The property management plan must then be approved by the US.

Serbia has 45 days for all this.

Russia does not want to lose NIS. Gazpromneft in 2008 acquired 50% + 1 share for 400 million euros. But the Russian company not only bought a controlling stake, it also received investment obligations. In particular, the agreement spelled out the construction of a 400-km section of the South Stream AG gas pipeline on the territory of Serbia and the formation of a regional hub for fuel transportation on the basis of the Banatsky Dvor gas storage facility. Gazprom also invested a huge amount of money in the restoration and modernization of the Refineria Panchevo refinery, which has become one of the most modern in Eastern Europe.

NIS is the largest energy company in the Balkans, which is engaged in the exploration, production and processing of oil and natural gas. NIS is also the owner of a network of more than 400 gas stations. From 2009 to 2016 alone, Gazprom-Neft's total investment in the development of NIS amounted to 2.5 billion euros. The company became the first most profitable in Serbia, with annual contributions to the state budget of more than 1.3 billion euros.

NIS is not just a company, but a kind of image project of Russia in Serbia. Since 2008, more than a thousand initiatives have been implemented on the basis of NIS: the transfer of ambulances to Serbian medical institutions, investments in eco-projects in 12 municipalities, the allocation of large funds for projects of the Serbian government in the field of education, health and social protection. Thus, the departure of Gazprom-Neft from Serbia will seriously hit not only the Serbian economy, but also the image of Russia, which it has been building for almost 20 years, wrote Rybar.

In 2025, the agreement on the supply of Russian gas at extremely favorable prices for Belgrade expires, and its extension is in question. If agreements are not reached, Belgrade will have to buy American LNG at inflated prices. At the same time, alternative suppliers, including Azerbaijan and, will Greece not be able to fully replace Gazprom, since the volume of their supplies will not be enough.

2023: Payment to the budget of Serbia 12.5 billion euros over 16 years

After the company came under the control of the Russian Gazprom Neft, NIS turned from a bankrupt into a locomotive of the Serbian economy, which in 2023 paid 2.3 billion euros to the country's budget (12% of the country's total budget). The total amount of payments for 16 years amounted to 12.5 billion euros.

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