Russian owners agree to sell their share of ownership in NIS

Naftna industrija Srbije, which has been under US sanctions since October 9 due to its majority Russian ownership, submitted a new request yesterday to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the issuance of a special license, which seeks to enable the company’s uninterrupted operations.

Is Bin Zayed buying NIS?

ADNOC, the national oil company of Abu Dhabi, is the most likely buyer of the Russian stake in Naftna industrija Srbije.

This information was confirmed to Nedeljnik by a well-informed insider, who asked for anonymity.

The chairman of the ADNOC Board of Directors, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, became directly involved in this transaction after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic asked him to appear as the buyer of 56.15 percent of the Russian ownership and NIS.

Bin Zayed gave the green light in his first conversation with Vucic. Before starting negotiations with the Russian side, the Sheikh asked ADNOC management to make an assessment of the value of NIS and when he received this information, he began negotiations.

The Russian side, however, came up with its own assessment of the value of NIS, which was three times higher than ADNOC’s assessment.

In the initial negotiations, this was an insurmountable difference, but it is obvious that in the meantime the valuations have converged and that this ultimately resulted in an agreement.

Sheikh bin Zayed also agreed that the management appointed by ADNOC would replace the Russian management team at NIS, and on this occasion a meeting was held in Abu Dhabi between representatives of the seller, buyer and the Serbian Ministry of Energy, at which a management takeover of NIS was agreed.

This transaction will have to be approved by OFAC and the US Treasury Department before it becomes operational.