Markovic: Increase of Serbian stake in NIS makes sense if there are two more owners

BELGRADE - A potential increase of the Serbian stake in the Russian-majority owned oil company NIS by five percent or more would make sense if the Russian stake in the firm is acquired by two new owners, says energy expert Zeljko Markovic.

"If it is a split ownership, if there are two (new) owners, then a five percent increase of the Serbian stake would make sense, too," Markovic told the RTS.

He added that a due diligence analysis of NIS, performed by the Hungarian oil firm MOL, was standard procedure for a company that intended to make an acquisition.

"That is a standard thing so that a buyer knows what he is buying, while there has been no such public information regarding the other company, (UAE-based) ADNOC, but we will find out soon," Markovic added.

He noted that buying a part of the Russian stake in NIS would enable ADNOC to break into a new market, and that it was suitable to MOL to bolster its portfolio in a region where it already had a presence, especially through a retail network.

Markovic noted that MOL had also acquired the Croatian oil company INA and was boosting its market position, becoming the main oil company in the region alongside OMV.