Photo: Aleksandra Lazarov Đurić / Ministry of Mining and Energy
MOL and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) intend to operate Serbian oil company NIS as a joint venture, in which Hungarian MOL would be the majority shareholder, said Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović. She met in Abu Dhabi with senior executives of the UAE-based energy giant. ADNOC would participate in the management bodies, she asserted.
Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović spoke today in Abu Dhabi with the management of oil company ADNOC about future cooperation in Serbia’s oil sector.
“Efforts are being made for a joint venture between ADNOC and MOL to become the majority owner of NIS, with ADNOC holding a very significant stake in that joint venture. It is important for us because it involves a state-owned company from the United Arab Emirates that has extensive experience in the oil sector and can understand state interests,” she said.
The minister pointed out that ADNOC and MOL are in advanced negotiations about purchasing the stake of Gazprom Neft in NIS – Naftna industrija Srbije.
The United States has imposed sanctions on the Serbian refiner and fuel retailer because of Russian ownership, but it suspended the measures amid the talks with Hungarian MOL.
The minister added that it is also important because of the refinery in Pančevo. It is the only such facility in Serbia.
ADNOC executives confirmed that their goal is for the refinery to continue its operations and increase its capacity in the future, in line with market demands, Đedović Handanović said. She met with Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Downstream Industry, Marketing and Trading Nasser Al Muhairi, and the company’s Executive Office Director Omar Al Suwaidi.
Serbia intends to acquire additional 5% of NIS
The meeting included a discussion about the intention of the Government of Serbia to increase its stake in NIS, formerly a state-owned company, by buying 5% of its stocks, the ministry said. Now it holds 29.9%.
“We agreed to continue the constructive and transparent dialogue as we have done so far. I expressed my gratitude that ADNOC has been in contact with us from the beginning, as well as with the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – as was Serbia – advocating for the establishment of a regular supply of crude oil to the refinery and the extension of the license,” Đedović Handanović stated.
She stressed that due diligence would be completed by the end of February to ensure the conditions are met for signing the acquisition contract in March, within the deadline set by OFAC, which is March 24. “OFAC will need to approve the transaction for the sanctions against NIS to be abolished, which is our long-term objective,” the minister added.
ADNOC is experienced in running large systems
According to Đedović Handanović, MOL would operate NIS as the majority stakeholder of the joint venture with ADNOC, while the UAE-based company would be present in the management bodies.
Russian state-owned oil producer Gazprom Neft has 44.9% of NIS, and Intelligence, another Gazprom’s subsidiary, holds 11.3%. Of note, ADNOC owns 24.9% of Austrian OMV.
At a meeting on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit 2026, Đedović Handanović also spoke with Masdar’s CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, about the possibilities of developing a partnership with Serbia’s state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS).
Masdar is owned by state-controlled Taqa, sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment and ADNOC.
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