NIS and MOL: Serbia says the deal is signed, MOL denies a purchase agreement, regulatory approvals remain
Serbia's finance minister and the Hungarian company gave opposing statements, and the ministry clarified it refers to a June agreement between the government and MOL.
The Hungarian oil company MOL on October 21 denied that it had reached an agreement with the Russian owners of Serbia's oil company NIS or signed a contract to buy it. In a statement also published on the Budapest Stock Exchange, MOL said there had been no “changes in the ongoing NIS transaction” that would require disclosure to capital markets, and promised to report any new relevant development promptly.
The opposing statement came from Serbian Finance Minister Siniša Mali, who told Bloomberg Adria that the Russian side and MOL had reached an agreement and that “the contract has been signed”. The Finance Ministry later clarified that Mali was referring to a contract signed in June, that is, the shareholders' agreement concluded between the Serbian government and MOL in mid-June. It has not been confirmed that a binding sale contract exists between the Russian owners and MOL.
Mali said only regulatory approval remains. He expects the parties to submit the transaction to the competition commissions in Serbia and likely in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he called a “condition to closing”, and that it will finish “very quickly”. No deadline was given.
NIS's ownership structure, according to the text, is: Gazprom Neft 44.85 percent, PJSC Intelligence 11.30 percent (both owned by Gazprom), the Government of Serbia 29.87 percent and minority shareholders 13.98 percent. That means the Russian owners together hold more than half of the company, and the sale of their stake is the key to the whole transaction.
Why does this matter for the region? NIS is the largest oil company in Serbia and operates the refinery there, so ownership over it affects fuel supply in that country and indirectly the regional market. The text I checked does not discuss the impact on supply, or sanctions or licences, so I draw no conclusions on that.
The Macedonian fuel market, in recent weeks, has moved with world quotations and government measures, not with the ownership of the Serbian company. This is therefore a regional story we follow, not a direct reason for a change in prices here. Whether and how it will matter depends on who buys the company and under what terms.
What is not known? It is not known whether a signed sale contract exists between the Russians and MOL, or when regulatory approvals will be obtained. It is also unclear at what price the Russian stake is being sold, or what guarantees Serbia will seek. The opposing statements cannot be reconciled from public sources.
What does it mean? The two sides are talking about different documents: Serbia about the June agreement, MOL about a binding contract with the sellers. Until it is published what exactly was signed, the safest reading is of “the contract” as an agreement of intent and a framework, not a completed sale.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 22, 2026
