NIS applies for new US sanctions waiver ahead of September deadline

Serbia’s state-linked oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije, better known as NIS, filed for a new waiver from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on September 24, 2026, six days before its existing license was set to expire on September 30. The application keeps the company in a now-familiar holding pattern: buying time through regulatory channels while a landmark ownership transfer slowly works its way to the finish line. NIS supplies up to 80% of Serbia’s fuel needs and operates the Pančevo refinery, the country’s primary crude processing facility. Without a continued waiver, those operations could be forced to halt, triggering fuel shortages across a country that has no immediate alternative supplier waiting in the wings. How NIS ended up here The company’s sanctions exposure traces back to its ownership structure. Russia’s Gazprom Neft holds roughly 44.9% of NIS, and another Gazprom entity controls approximately 11.3%, giving Russian state-linked interests a combined majority position. When Washington tightened sanctions on Russia’s energy sector in October 2025, NIS was caught in the crossfire despite being a Serbian company operating on Serbian soil. OFAC’s appr...