Szijjarto: Real chance of MOL and Gazpromneft reaching an agreement on NIS in one to three days

There is a real chance that the Hungarian company MOL will reach an agreement with Russia’s Gazpromneft in one to three days on the purchase of a majority stake in Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS), Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

In an interview with RTS, Szijjarto said that, if an agreement is reached, a request will be immediately submitted to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to lift the sanctions on NIS, imposed last year due to its majority Russian ownership.

– I think I have some good news. MOL and Gazpromneft have made quite rapid progress in the negotiations, so there is a real chance that they will reach a key agreement within one to three days, which is very important from the perspective of purchasing a majority stake in NIS – Szijjarto said.

The Hungarian foreign minister, who met with Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, also said that the Hungarian government, which diplomatically supported MOL in its purchase of Gazpromneft’s stake in NIS, “will certainly provide diplomatic assistance and support” to ensure that the OFAC procedure is successful.

He stated that the reason for the Hungarian government’s diplomatic support for MOL is that, if it becomes the owner of a majority stake in NIS, the markets of Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia will operate in an integrated manner through that oil company.

– MOL is in close negotiations with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and I think it will be great news if this integrated operation of the three markets in the region also receives support in the form of cooperation with ADNOC and MOL with regard to Serbia, but that is their job. We welcome their negotiations in this regard and hope that they will be successful – added Szijjarto.

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

MOL Serbia d.o.o. Beograd

MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Budapest

Naftna industrija Srbije ad Beograd

MOL

Gazpromneft

ADNOC

OFAC

Peter Szijjarto

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

sale of NIS