Minister: ADNOC will have a very significant stake in NIS

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic spoke yesterday in Abu Dhabi with the management of the oil company ADNOC, which is in advanced negotiations with MOL on the purchase of Gazpromneft’s stake in Naftna industrija Srbije, about future cooperation in the oil sector of our country.

Djedovic Handanovic stated that the meeting with the managers of this company from the United Arab Emirates, Omar Al Suwaidi and Nasser Al Muhairi, was productive, adding that work was being done to make the joint company of ADNOC and MOL the majority owner in NIS, with ADNOC having a very significant stake in that joint company, the government website reported.

This is a state-owned UAE company with extensive experience in the oil sector, which can understand the state’s interests, which is of great importance to us, the minister emphasized, adding that this was also important for the future operation of the Refinery in Pancevo.

According to her, ADNOC leaders confirmed that their goal was for the Refinery to continue operating and to increase its capacity in the future in accordance with market demands.

The minister stated that, at the meeting, the purchase of Serbia’s additional five percent stake in NIS had been discussed too, stating that it had been agreed to continue the constructive and transparent dialogue, as it had been up till that point.

– I thanked ADNOC for being in contact with us from the beginning, as well as with the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC), as Serbia has been too, advocating for the establishment of regular crude oil supplies to the Refinery and the extension of the license – Djedovic Handanovic emphasized.

She announced that the entire in-depth analysis of the business related to the purchase of the Russian share of ownership in NIS would be completed by the end of February in order to create the conditions to sign the purchase agreement in March, within the deadline set by OFAC, i.e. by March 24.

OFAC will have to approve the transaction in order to lift sanctions on NIS, which is our long-term goal, explained the minister, noting that in the future MOL would manage NIS as the majority shareholder in a joint company with ADNOC, while the UAE company would be present in the management bodies.

According to her, this is important for us because of ADNOC’s experience in managing large systems and supervising the work of NIS through participation in the management bodies.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

ADNOC

OFAC

Ministry of Energy of Serbia

NIS

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

purchase of NIS

stake