United States they introduced sanctions To the oil industry of Serbia because of the share owned by the Russian state company Gazpromneft, which is also under US sanctions since February 2022, when Russia launched its attack on Ukraine.
But apart from Gazprom and NIS, for the same reason Lukoil, a private oil company from Russia, found itself under US sanctions.
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) - the body in charge of implementing sanctions prescribed by the US Treasury Department - has issued NIS a license to sell its Russian stake, which is valid until March 24, 2026. They did the same in the case of Lukoil, whose term expires on January 17, 2026.
What are OFAC licenses?
An OFAC license is a special permit that that body can issue to a sanctioned company to temporarily allow certain activities that would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions.
With OFAC's latest license, NIS has been given another deadline by which license holders are authorized to participate in negotiations regarding the permanent divestment of ownership and control of Russian entities in NIS.
According to Insider, who had access to the license, the law office "Baker & McKenzie LLP", "NIS ad Novi Sad", "MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Public Limited Company", "Government of the Republic of Serbia", "PJSC Gazprom Neft", "PJSC Gazprom" and "JSC Intelligence" are mentioned as license holders.
Based on that, it could be assumed that negotiations are ongoing with the Hungarian company MOL, which was later confirmed by the Minister of Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović.
What are Lukoil's licenses?
OFAC's license issued to Lukoil, which relates to negotiations and transactions of the sale of assets, is valid until January 17, 2026, but what distinguishes the Russian company from NIS is the possession of a license that authorizes it to "certain international activities in foreign countries."
That license, which is valid until April 29 next year, means that Lukoil is allowed to work in foreign countries, but not to send earnings to Russia. Lukoil operates in 30 countries through more than 5.000 gas stations.
Hungary's MOL has informed US officials that, in addition to NIS, it is also interested in Lukoil and would like to buy their refineries and gas stations in Europe, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Mexico.
Lukoil and Serbia
Among those 30 countries is Serbia, where Lukoil has been operating since 2003 and will continue to do so at least until April 29.
On the territory of our country, 112 Lukoil pumps and two warehouses are active.
According to the words of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, the decision to extend Lukoil's term is favorable for us as well, since this Russian company imports about 100.000 tons of oil derivatives into Serbia. He added that the advantage is that Lukoil's pumps are "evenly distributed throughout Serbia".
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