Djedovic Handanovic: Strategic dialogue with US positive signal for solving NIS issue

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Tuesday it was still uncertain whether the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) would extend licences issued to the Serbian oil company NIS and Hungary's MOL after July 31, and noted that strategic dialogue between Serbia and the US was a good foundation and a positive signal for solving the NIS issue.

Since October 9, 2025, NIS has been under US sanctions due to its Russian-majority ownership.

Recently, the OFAC extended an operating licence for NIS until July 31.

A licence for MOL-Gazprom neft talks about an acquisition of a Russian majority stake in NIS by MOL was also extended until the same date.

Speaking to Tanjug, Djedovic Handanovic said Washington would decide whether a solution on the table was satisfactory to it, while Serbia, on the other hand, would continue its dialogue with Russia and let it know a sustainable and long-term solution was expected.

"The outcome of those talks - and whether the Russian majority owner and the Hungarian oil company will reach an agreement on an acquisition of the Russian stake, whether the US administration will approve the transaction and what the consequences for us will be - remains to be seen. However, Washington has the most important, key role," Djedovic Handanovic said.

Belgrade wants constructive dialogue with the US about future cooperation and hopes the US side, regardless of the comprehensive sanctions on various energy companies from the Russian Federation, will have understanding for Serbia's position, she said.

"It is important that we strengthen and deepen our relations with the US, and the launch of strategic dialogue between Serbia and the US certainly represents a good foundation. So I expect all those activities and all that progress to be a positive signal," the minister said.

Djedovic Handanovic: We expect gas deal with Russia to be extended until end-2026

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Tuesday Serbia's gas arrangement with Russia was expected to be extended until the end of this year. "

The agreement is valid until the end of September. We have had three-month extensions, but we expect the agreement to also be extended until the end of the year. Certainly, the EU and European countries want to make imports of Russian gas as difficult as possible, and we are getting it via Bulgaria, an EU member state. There are also certain time frames and deadlines. We will continue our dialogue to find the best solution for Serbia," Djedovic Handanovic told Tanjug, noting that she had travelled to St Petersburg in June for discussions with Gazprom top executives.

She also said she expected measures targeting Russian gas imports to be addressed in strategic dialogue with the US and added that she believed the Washington administration would have understanding for Serbia.

She said diversification of supply sources was key to energy stability and that talks about an approx. 1 bln euro project aimed at developing Serbia's internal gas infrastructure were underway with the World Bank.

Future interconnections built as part of the project would enable Serbia to secure the status of a transit country and a gas hub in southeastern Europe, the minister said.

Speaking about strategic dialogue with the US in the energy sector, Djedovic Handanovic said a project to build a Djerdap 3 hydropower plant held the greatest potential and that the plant would become Europe's largest reversible hydropower plant and a regional electricity storage facility.