Croatia's JANAF secures US license extension for oil supplies

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended the license allowing Croatian oil pipeline operator JANAF to continue supplying crude oil to Serbia's NIS (Naftna Industrija Srbije) until July 31, 2026.

By working in cooperation with the Croatian government, JANAF has secured an extension of the OFAC license, enabling the company to continue fulfilling its contractual obligations to NIS through this summer, Caliber.Az reports citing the company's press statement.

On January 19, Gazprom and Hungary's MOL announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding on the sale of a stake in NIS. Serbian authorities have also said the state plans to increase its holding in the company by 5%, giving Belgrade greater influence over certain shareholder decisions. Meanwhile, MOL is in talks with the UAE's ADNOC about joining NIS as a minority shareholder.

The ownership restructuring is being driven by US sanctions. In January 2025, the US Treasury added NIS and its majority shareholder, Gazprom Neft, to its sanctions list. Following several postponements, the sanctions took effect on October 9, 2025. On November 11, 2025, Serbia's Energy Ministry said NIS's Russian shareholders had informed US authorities of their willingness to transfer control of the company to a third party.

Earlier, OFAC also extended NIS's operating license through July 31 and set the same date as the new deadline for negotiations over MOL's acquisition of the Russian stake in the company.

By Nazrin Sadigova