Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on January 20, 2026
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on January 20, 2026
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
MOL's acquisition of a stake in Serbia's NIS is seen as beneficial for Russia, with Gazprom Neft selling its majority stake. Lavrov comments on the geopolitical impact.
MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that a deal for Hungary's MOL to acquire a stake in Serbian oil refiner NIS would be beneficial for Russia.
Russia's Gazprom Neft has reached a provisional agreement to sell its majority stake in NIS to MOL, Serbia's Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Monday.
Russia's Gazprom holds an 11.3% stake in NIS, while its sanctioned oil unit Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%. The Serbian government has 29.9%, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Gazprom Neft is a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, primarily involved in the extraction and production of oil and gas.
MOL is a Hungarian multinational oil and gas company, engaged in the exploration, production, and distribution of oil and gas products.
A stake in a company refers to the ownership interest that an individual or entity holds in that company, usually represented by shares.
An oil refiner is a company or facility that processes crude oil into usable products such as gasoline, diesel, and other petrochemicals.
Explore more articles in the Finance category