Serbia oil firm NIS gets US licence extension

Serbian oil firm NIS said the United States has extended its operating licence until December 11, allowing the sanctioned company to keep importing crude oil and running Serbia's only refinery.

NIS said the licence from the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control allows the maintenance of operations, contracts and other agreements needed for secure supply and technical maintenance.

The licence had been due to expire on Friday. The extension is slightly longer than the usual monthly renewal and is the first waiver granted to Serbia since Sunday's election, in which a student-led movement defeated the long-ruling right-wing party with an absolute parliamentary majority.

NIS is majority-owned by Russian interests, with a 56% Russian stake. Serbia owns about 30%. Talks over the possible sale of the Russian stake to Hungarian energy company MOL have continued for months.

US sanctions were introduced in January 2025 and repeatedly postponed to allow for a sale. Sanctions were enforced between October and December 2025, forcing NIS to halt refinery production for several weeks because of a shortage of crude oil. Temporary operating licences have been granted since December after talks with MOL were announced.