Hungary's MOL to Acquire Majority Stake in Serbia's NIS Oil Firm

MOL's Acquisition of NIS Oil Firm

BELGRADE, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Hungary's MOL agreed to pay up to 1 billion euros ($1.19 billion) to buy a majority stake in Serbia's oil firm NIS from its Russian owners, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday.

Details of the Transaction

On January 19, MOL said it had signed a binding agreement to buy the 56.16% stake in NIS owned by Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, without disclosing the price. The United States had placed NIS under sanctions in October as it targeted Russia's energy sector over Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Impact of U.S. Sanctions

"As far as I understood, it (the price) was between 900 million and a billion (euros) for the 56% stake," Vucic said in a live broadcast on Belgrade-based Blic TV. 

Serbia's Fuel Supply Situation

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) must approve the transaction. It had given the Russian companies until March 24 to divest their ownership. 

Vucic said Serbia had been willing to pay Gazprom and Gazprom Neft double the agreed price, but he declined to say why such a deal had failed to materialise as it could "jeopardise Serbian interests".

The U.S. sanctions prompted the halting of oil supplies to Serbia via Croatia's Janaf and a shutdown of the NIS refinery, the only one in the Balkan country, threatening winter fuel shortages.

Following the tentative sale agreement, OFAC granted NIS a sanctions reprieve until February 20, allowing it to import crude oil.

Gazprom and Gazprom Neft hold 11.3% and 44.9% of NIS, respectively. The Serbian government has a 29.9% stake and the remainder belongs to small shareholders and employees.

Apart from operating its oil refinery in the northern town of Pancevo, NIS supplies 80% of Serbia's fuel needs, and has petrol stations in neighbouring Bosnia, Bulgaria and Romania.

($1 = 0.8437 euros)

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)