Lavrov: Sale of NIS to Hungary's MOL is in Russia's interest

MOSCOW - Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday a preliminary agreement on a sale of Gazprom neft's stake in the Serbian oil company NIS to Hungary's MOL was mutually beneficial.

"We are open to cooperation with everyone," Lavrov said at a press conference.

Russia is willing to cooperate with the US on the matter, the Russian media outlet Sputnik quoted Lavrov as also saying.

On Monday, Gazprom neft confirmed it had signed a letter of intent with MOL on a sale of its stake in the company.

Earlier, MOL announced it had signed a binding heads of agreement with Gazprom neft to buy its 56.15 pct stake in NIS.

Completing the transaction is subject to approval by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control and Serbian authorities.

The parties plan to sign a sales and purchase agreement by March 31.

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