Oil refinery in Serbia asks USA for extension of sanctions suspension until final transfer deal of Russian majority shares to Hungarian MOL is reached

Belgrade, 20 January 2026, dtt-net.com – The NIS oil refinery in Serbia has asked USA government to extend suspension of sanctions beyond January 23, until Hungarian MOL and Russian majority shareholder complete yesterday’s announced basic deal and which has to be approved by Washington in order to remove the company from sanctions list, Serbian officials said. MOL yesterday announced that it has agreed with Gazprom to acquire 56,15% of shares, while Serbian government will also increase its shares for 5% to 30%, but final deal competition will need few more days and a greenlight by Washington in order it can take effect.