Attila Holody from Erste emphasized that MOL is still the most likely buyer of NIS, although President Vucic and the Russians are no longer interested in selling the company to the Hungarian company after the defeat of Viktor Orban – an ally of both Moscow and Belgrade. The analyst noted that he saw no other long-term solution to the problems of the Serbian oil giant than selling Russian shares to MOL.
Serbia's Minister of Energy and Mining, Dubravka Djedović Handanović, announced on Tuesday that intensive talks are underway both between the Russian majority owner and MOL, as well as between Serbia and MOL.
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On January 19, the Hungarian MOL announced the signing of a binding agreement with Russian companies regarding the purchase of their shares in NIS. MOL is negotiating with ADNOC from the United Arab Emirates to purchase a minority stake in NIS. The deadline for signing the agreement on new ownership relations in the Serbian concern is May 22.
The US included NIS on the sanctions list in January 2025 to prevent, as it was announced, from financing the war against Ukraine with money from Russian oil and gas companies. The US administration demands the withdrawal of Russian entities from the NIS.
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Since 2008, the majority shareholders in NIS are Gazprom and Gazprom Neft, the oil company of Gazprom, which owns approximately 96 percent. its shares. At that time, Gazprom Neft owned 50 percent. shares in NIS, the Serbian state – 29.87 percent, and Gazprom – 6.15 percent. The remaining shares belonged to citizens, current and former employees and other minority shareholders.
Although the ownership structure of NIS has changed several times recently, the concern is still mostly in the hands of Russian companies. Gazprom withdrew from NIS in September 2025, and its shares were taken over by another company managed by it: Intelligence from St. Petersburg, according to data from the Belgrade Stock Exchange.
