Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović has announced that Mol and Russia's Gazpromneft have reached an agreement on the sale of the Russian stake in the Serbian oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), Szabad Magyar Szó reports. At the same time, Serbia will increase its stake in the oil company by five percent.
Rumors have been circulating in the press for weeks about Mol's intention to buy part of NIS, which owns Serbia's only refinery but is currently majority-owned by a Russian company. The majority owner, Gazprom Group, has a 56.15 percent stake in the company, which Mol is now buying, while the Serbian state owns 29.9 percent and the remaining shares are currently held by minority owners.
The minister also added that a partner from the United Arab Emirates may also be part of the future acquisition agreement. Although she did not name the company, the minister was presumably referring to the Arab oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
We have previously discussed the Mol-NIS transaction in detail, which is not only a business deal between two oil companies, but also a potential purchase in which the US, Russian, Hungarian, and Serbian governments have interests and the ability to assert their interests. A few days ago, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Mol is close to acquiring the Russian stake in the Serbian oil company NIS.
Negotiations have been conducted in several directions in recent days. We know that Zsolt Hernádi, Chairman and CEO of Mol, also held talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, but negotiations between Russia and the US were also taking place at the same time. Further details are still being worked out, but there is still time until March 24 for finalization.
We have sent questions to Mol regarding the purchase of the majority stake and will inform our readers as soon as we receive a response.
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