Serbian oil company NIS has received another temporary U.S. sanctions waiver, allowing the Pančevo refinery to continue operating through Sept. 30 while negotiations over the company’s Russian-controlled ownership continue.
The latest U.S. Treasury licence replaces an authorisation due to expire on Aug. 28.
It allows NIS and its operating subsidiaries to continue transactions required for ordinary business, including crude imports, refining, maintenance, contractual payments and activities needed to maintain Serbian energy supplies.
Attention is increasingly focused on a potential ownership restructuring that could produce a longer-term solution to the sanctions issue.
Hungarian energy group MOL is negotiating with Gazprom Neft over the Russian-controlled interest in NIS. The parties previously agreed the principal terms of a framework relating to a 56.15% stake.
NIS has faced U.S. sanctions since October 2025 because of its majority Russian ownership.
Serbian Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka ĐedoviĆ has said ownership negotiations are in their final phase, describing the extension of the operating licence as an indication that efforts to resolve the issue are progressing.
For Serbia, the immediate effect is to allow Pančevo to continue refining crude without interruption and reduce short-term risks to domestic fuel availability.
