BELGRADE, July 1, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The United States has extended for 30 days a temporary operating licence for Serbia's sanctioned Russian-controlled oil firm NIS, the energy minister said on Tuesday.

NIS, the acronym for the Petroleum Industry of Serbia, has faced US sanctions since January 2025 over Russia's war in Ukraine.

Washington is demanding that Gazprom Neft and its sister company Intelligence, both subsidiaries of Russia energy giant Gazprom, sell their combined 56 percent stake as a condition for the sanctions to be lifted.

The sanctions have been repeatedly postponed to give time to complete the sale.

Talks on the sale of the Russian-held stake in NIS to Hungary's energy giant MOL have been ongoing for months.

Earlier this month, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended until July 1 NIS operating licence and deadline for MOL and Gazprom to complete negotiations.

We have just been informed by OFAC that the operating license to resume work at NIS has been extended for another 30 days, until July 31, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Instagram.

"In this way, the refinery in Pancevo continues to process crude oil, which is particularly significant in the global energy crisis," she said.

Serbia remains a close Kremlin ally and one of the few European countries not to sanction Russia over its war against Ukraine.

The Balkan nation sold a majority stake in NIS to Gazprom in 2008 for 400 million euros ($457 million), and now owns around 30 percent.

Officials say Serbia intends to raise its stake by five percent after the sale.

MOL and the Serbian government earlier this month signed a "shareholders' agreement" regarding the future governance of NIS if the deal is reached with Russians and approved by OFAC.

Gazprom Neft chief executive Alexander Dyukov said recently, according to Russia's Interfax news agency, that the company was negotiating the sale of its stake in NIS but warned "it will take time".

He did not say who the talks were with, but MOL is the only publicly known bidder.