Hungarian officials have confirmed that exploratory talks are underway on the possibility of oil and gas company MOL acquiring a stake in Serbia’s national oil company NIS. The information was disclosed by Gergely Gulyás, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who stressed that discussions are still in an early phase.
Gulyás noted that any deal, should it materialize, would represent a standard market transaction. He added, however, that NIS would stand to benefit from the end of Russian ownership, implying that a greater role for MOL is one of several scenarios currently being examined.
These comments come shortly after Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó visited Belgrade for talks with Serbian Energy and Mining Minister Dubravka Đedović. Following the meeting, Szijjártó announced that MOL intends to increase its oil deliveries to Serbia by 2.5 times, stating that Hungary will use all available mechanisms to secure Serbia’s oil supply needs.
