Gazprom Neft separates from Serbia Western media reports that an agreement has already been signed to sell the controlling shares in a Russian company of 56.15% of the Serbian shekel shares to the Hungarian MOL. Now the deal will have to go through antitrust approvals, as well as receive approval from the American authorities due to the current US sanctions. Today, the NIS work continues under temporary arrangements. According to Reuters, the company supplies up to 80% of Serbia's oil needs. For Belgrade, therefore, the most important thing is the continuity of supply and maintaining the refinery's activity. MOL offered about 2 billion euros for this property. Gazprom Neft once paid about 400 million dollars for the control. But another question remains open: how exactly will the money reach the Russian side? The payment mechanism was not disclosed. On the other hand, for Russia it is the loss of a bridgehead that provided processing, retail and manufacturing in the central Balkans. In return, the foreclosed property is converted into cash while the license is still valid. Serbia gets an EU partner with clear status, and Moscow loses leverage in a country that never joined the anti-Russian sanctions. The geography of control over oil refining in the region will change. However, until the approval of OFAC and the completion of the regulatory procedures, it is not yet a completed Russian exit from the shekel, but an agreed route to it. Russian money is now at MAX.