Mali: NIS licence due to be extended by end of day, MOL representatives to visit Belgrade

WASHINGTON - Serbian First Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, who is on a visit to Washington, said on Thursday he expected the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to extend an operating licence for the Serbian oil company NIS by the end of the day and announced that representatives of the Hungarian oil firm MOL would come to Belgrade on Friday or Saturday to finalise talks on an acquisition of a Russian stake in NIS.

"It is 10-11 am here (in Washington), and I expect a solution to the issue of the operating licence by the end of the day, unless I am mistaken. Hopefully it will be a positive one," Mali said when asked by Tanjug if he expected the licence, which expires on April 17, to be extended.

He noted that he had spoken with MOL representatives on Wednesday and that all the required documentation for the licence to be extended had been submitted to the OFAC.

Mali noted that the company's representatives would visit Belgrade "so that we finish all the necessary discussions and talks about the documents that are required for completing the transaction."

"The final deadline is May 22," he added.

Last week, NIS requested from the OFAC a new special licence that would enable it to continue to operate without obstructions after April 17.

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

A licence for talks on potential changes to the company's ownership structure has been extended until May 22, 2026.

Speaking about his meetings in Washington with representatives of the Moody's and Standard and Poor's credit rating agencies, Mali said Serbia had received "nothing but praise" for the way it had responded to the energy crisis and prevented price hikes and shortages.

Mali meets with IMF officials in Washington

WASHINGTON - Serbian First Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali held separate meetings with IMF Deputy Managing Director Bo Li and the Director of the IMF's European Department Alfred Kammer in Washington on Thursday to discuss measures countries were taking to absorb a major energy crisis shock.

In a statement to Tanjug, Mali said the meetings had been "very constructive," addressing "different measures different countries have taken to absorb that big shock."

"Some countries have passed on the entire crude price increase to the end-buyers - the citizens - while Serbia has not done that," Mali said.

"It turned out that Serbia was ready for the shock and that it undertook the cost of excise duty cuts as a result," he noted.