Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said he was pessimistic that an agreement would be reached before Friday’s deadline regarding Hungarian oil company MOL group's bid to acquire a majority stake in Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), the operator of Serbia’s only oil refinery.
Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Gazprom agreed in January to sell their combined 56% controlling stake in NIS to MOL after the United States demanded the divestment of Russian-owned shares under sanctions linked to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Washington has given the Russian firms and MOL until 22 May to finalise the transaction, which also requires approval from the Serbian government because the state owns a 29.9% stake in NIS.
Speaking to Serbia’s RTS television late on Thursday (21 May), Vučić said he did not expect the Russian companies and MOL to reach a final agreement before the deadline.
“We have held countless meetings with representatives of MOL. I hope we will achieve a successful outcome, but I am not optimistic,” he said.
Despite his doubts, Vučić suggested the United States was likely to grant additional time for the parties to complete negotiations.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on NIS in October due to the company’s Russian ownership as part of broader measures targeting Russia’s energy sector. However, NIS has since obtained several waivers from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining...
Shanghai Enflame Technology, one of China’s leading artificial intelligence chipmakers and a domestic rival to Nvidia, surged more than 200 p...
Georgia’s top security official has held face-to-face talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart in China, with both sides pledging to deepen int...
Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
Overnight Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. aircraft and left one without a wing, American media reported. Meanwhile, explosions were heard across parts of southern Iran according to local media reports.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, calling the strikes a response to a U.S. attack on five Iranian tankers.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss air defences for Ukraine over winter.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Shanghai Enflame Technology, one of China’s leading artificial intelligence chipmakers and a domestic rival to Nvidia, surged more than 200 per cent on its market debut on Friday, highlighting strong investor demand for homegrown semiconductor companies.
Mexico and the U.S. are racing to secure a trade deal before the U.S. midterm elections in less than eight weeks, according to six sources familiar with the talks, with failed negotiations between Washington and Canada adding urgency.
A Texas judge ruled on Thursday that TikTok violated the state's consumer protection law by misleading users about how the platform filtered content for minors and the effectiveness of its Restricted Mode feature.
Sweden's centre-left opposition holds a narrow lead over the ruling right-wing bloc ahead of Sunday's parliamentary election, leaving Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson well placed for a return as prime minister.
French public broadcaster France Télévisions has removed the replay of a programme in which actress Adèle Haenel accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and France of complicity.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment