Oil and gas company NIS (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS)
The U.S. government has extended oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije's (NIS) operating license until Jan. 23, by which time the negotiations between Russian Gazprom and Hungarian MOL on the purchase of the Russian majority stake in NIS - which was the reason for the U.S. sanctions against the company - are expected to wrap up.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Jan. 1 that NIS would start procuring and processing oil right after the holidays, while the Pancevo Refinery would start operating "at full steam" between Jan. 17 and 19. He also said that the U.S. was expecting all the main points of a future contract between the seller and the buyer of NIS, most likely Hungarian MOL, by Jan. 23.
The U.S. decision on extending the license for NIS came after President Vucic's talks on Dec. 31 with representatives of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of State and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The Adriatic pipeline JANAF announced on Dec. 31, immediately after the unveiling of OFAC's decision, that it was "completely ready to immediately ensure smooth transportation and supply of crude oil to the refinery in Pancevo," adding that it was hoping for "the completion of negotiations between NIS and potential partners on the purchase of the Russian stake in the company soon."
On Dec. 24, OFAC issued a license to NIS that extended the deadline for talks on the sale of the Russian stake until March 24.
The U.S. sanctions against NIS came into force on Oct. 9. The day before, crude deliveries to Serbia via JANAF were halted, while the Pancevo Refinery stopped operating on Dec. 2 and since then Serbia has been relying on state reserves and imports of oil products.
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