Hungarian oil and gas group MOL (MOL Magyar Olaj- és Gázipari Nyilvánosan Muködo Részvénytársaság (BUSE:MOL)) is negotiating to buy an 11.3% stake in Serbia's Russian-controlled and U.S.-sanctioned oil and gas firm NIS (Naftna Industrija Srbije a.d. (BELEX:NIIS)) amid efforts to secure the lifting of the sanctions, Serbia's weekly NIN reported. MOL is in talks to buy the 11.3% stake in NIS [BEL:NIIS], Serbia's sole refiner, that the Russian energy major Gazprom transferred in September to St. Petersburg-based Intelligence, a company it ultimately controls, NIN reported on November 12, 2025, citing unnamed sources.

The negotiations are ongoing and there is no certainty that MOL will end up buying the stake, NIN said, adding the potential deal is expected to be discussed in Budapest on November 15, when a delegation from Moscow is planned to meet with the Hungarian side in the talks. A spokesperson for MOL told SeeNews in an emailed statement on November 13, 2025 that "we do not comment on market rumours." NIS is 44.85% owned by Gazprom's oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft. Serbia's government has 29.87% ownership, Intelligence has 11.3%, and the remaining 13.98% is held by a number of minority shareholders.

If MOL were to acquire the 11.3% stake in NIS, the Russian companies would no longer control the Serbian firm, which may be sufficient for the U.S. authorities to suspend the sanctions, NIN noted. In January, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on NIS over its Russian ownership, as part of a wider package of restrictions targeting Russia's energy sector over the Ukraine war. After several delays, the sanctions on NIS took effect on October 8. On November 11, 2025, Serbia's energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said that NIS' Russian owners had sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), asking for an extension of NIS' operating licence based on the fact that negotiations with an unnamed third party for taking over NIS's management have been in progress.

The U.S. sanctions blocked NIS' only crude import route, the Janaf pipeline through Croatia. Djedovic Handanovic has said that NIS' refinery in Pancevo - Serbia's only - will continue operating until November 25.