Serbia's Vucic says he is not optimistic for a timely deal over NIS oil firm

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said ​he was not optimistic ​that an agreement will ‌be reached over ​Hungarian oil company MOL's bid to take a majority stake in NIS, the operator ‌of the Balkan nation's sole refinery, before a Friday deadline.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said ​he was not optimistic ​that an agreement will ‌be reached over ​Hungarian oil company MOL's bid to take a majority stake in NIS, the operator ‌of the Balkan nation's sole refinery, before a Friday deadline. Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom agreed to sell their 56% majority stake in NIS to ‌MOL in January after the United States demanded the divestment of ‌Russian-owned shares due to sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine. Washington has given the Russian companies and MOL until May 22 to complete the sale, which requires ⁠Serbian government consent ​due to ⁠the state's 29.9% stake in NIS.

Speaking to Serbia's RTS television late on Thursday, ⁠Vucic said it was unlikely a deal between MOL and the Russian companies ​would be reached by Friday. "We have had countless meetings with ⁠people from MOL. I hope we will end successfully, but I am not optimistic," ⁠he ​said.

However, Washington was expected to give the involved parties more time to conclude a deal, he said. The U.S. imposed sanctions ⁠on NIS in October due to its Russian ownership as part of ⁠wider measures ⁠targeting Moscow's energy sector. NIS, however, has secured a series of waivers from the U.S. Treasury's Office of ‌Foreign Assets ‌Control (OFAC).