January 20, 2026 [Reuters]- Russia’s Gazprom Neft has reached a provisional agreement to sell its majority stake in Serbian oil refiner NIS to Hungary’s MOL, Serbia’s Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Monday.

She said the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which imposed sanctions on NIS over its Russian ownership, would need to approve the transaction, according to a statement to the Video Plus news service.

MOL said in a statement that it had signed a binding agreement with Gazprom Neft to buy the Russian firm’s 56.16% stake in NIS.

NIS supplies about 80% of Serbia’s fuel market and holds around half of the retail segment.

Djedovic Handanovic said that partners from the United Arab Emirates were expected to be involved in the future sale agreement as talks continue towards a March 24 deadline.

MOL said it was in talks with ADNOC about the UAE national oil company being a minority investor in NIS.

In a statement later on Monday, Gazprom Neft confirmed it had signed an agreement of intent with MOL to sell a stake in NIS. It did not mention ADNOC as a potential buyer of its shares.

MOL TO MAINTAIN OUTPUT AT SERBIA’S SOLE REFINERY

Djedovic Handanovic said MOL would be obliged to keep Serbia’s sole refinery at Pancevo, operated by NIS, running at previous output levels and to raise production if needed.

OFAC imposed sanctions on NIS in October as part of wider measures targeting Russia’s energy sector over the war in Ukraine, forcing the Pancevo refinery offline and raising domestic supply concerns.

NIS was granted a sanctions reprieve by OFAC until January 23.

Russia’s Gazprom holds an 11.3% stake in NIS, while its sanctioned oil unit Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%. The Serbian government has 29.9%, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees.