Djedovic Handanovic: MOL, ADNOC in talks on NIS, Serbia involved

DUBAI - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Wednesday in Dubai, where she is attending World Governments Summit 2026, that Hungary's MOL and the UAE state oil company ADNOC were in talks with Gazprom neft about acquiring the Russian stake in the Serbian oil firm NIS and that Serbia was involved in the negotiations.

NIS is under US sanctions due to its Russian majority ownership.

Djedovic Handanovic announced that she would meet with the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber on Wednesday to discuss NIS and cooperation in the energy sector.

"The talks are underway and we are, of course, present in those talks and we are very interested, but our main goal is that a sales and purchase agreement is reached and that the US OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) approves it, and that we then have an even stronger partner like ADNOC in our country, above all, in the oil sector, and continue our successful cooperation with the UAE in the energy sector," the minister said.

She said having a major oil producer and distributor and an OPEC member as a part of NIS could only be beneficial to Serbia.