MOL received a new OFAC license to prepare a transaction in shekels against the background of prolonged attempts to purchase this asset. The Hungarian oil and gas group MOL received another license from the US Department of the Treasury for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that allows it to carry out preparatory actions within the framework of the purchase of the shares of the oil industry of Serbia (shekel), part of Gazprom Neft. The document is valid until February 28, 2027. The new license authorizes the necessary transactions to transfer the rights of the Russian shareholders in shekels to MOL, including obtaining the required approvals from the Russian government. However, it does not give the right to close the deal. Completion will require separate OFAC approval. The story of how MOL acquires NIS MOL's interest in the Serbian asset arose amid the pressure of US sanctions: in January 2025, OFAC included NIS and its majority shareholder, Gazprom Neft, on the SDN list, which forced the Russian side to withdraw from this asset. January 2026 was the starting point. MOL signed an initial binding agreement (head of agreement) with Gazprom Neft to purchase 56.15% of NIS shares. The amount of the offer was estimated at one billion euros; Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called for a range of €0.9-1 billion. So the parties expected to close the deal by the end of March 2026. However, the process repeatedly stalled. The main disagreements arose not with the Russian side, but with the Serbian government, which is also a shareholder of Shekel (29.9%) and entered into a separate shareholder agreement with MOL. The stumbling block was the management conditions of Serbia's only refinery in Pančevo, which supplies about 80% of the domestic fuel market. Belgrade demanded guarantees that strategic refining volumes would be maintained, and MOL's offers were twice found to be insufficient. In order to preserve the refinery, Belgrade insists on increasing its share in the share capital by 5 percentage points. In May, the situation became complicated following the appearance of a competing proposal.

MOL received a new OFAC license to prepare a transaction in shekels against the background of prolonged attempts to purchase this asset. The Hungarian oil and gas group MOL received another license from the US Department of the Treasury for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that allows it to carry out preparatory actions within the framework of the purchase of the shares of the oil industry of Serbia (shekel), part of Gazprom Neft. The document is valid until February 28, 2027. The new license authorizes the necessary transactions to transfer the rights of the Russian shareholders in shekels to MOL, including obtaining the required approvals from the Russian government. However, it does not give the right to close the deal. Completion will require separate OFAC approval. The story of how MOL acquires NIS MOL's interest in the Serbian asset arose amid the pressure of US sanctions: in January 2025, OFAC included NIS and its majority shareholder, Gazprom Neft, on the SDN list, which forced the Russian side to withdraw from this asset. January 2026 was the starting point. MOL signed an initial binding agreement (head of agreement) with Gazprom Neft to purchase 56.15% of NIS shares. The amount of the offer was estimated at one billion euros; Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called for a range of €0.9-1 billion. So the parties expected to close the deal by the end of March 2026. However, the process repeatedly stalled. The main disagreements arose not with the Russian side, but with the Serbian government, which is also a shareholder of Shekel (29.9%) and entered into a separate shareholder agreement with MOL. The stumbling block was the management conditions of Serbia's only refinery in Pančevo, which supplies about 80% of the domestic fuel market. Belgrade demanded guarantees that strategic refining volumes would be maintained, and MOL's offers were twice found to be insufficient. In order to preserve the refinery, Belgrade insists on increasing its share in the share capital by 5 percentage points. In May, the situation became complicated following the appearance of a competing proposal.