JANAF says it is ready to begin delivery of oil to NIS immediately

The Croatian Government announced on Friday that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a license to JANAF to continue transporting oil to Serbian oil company NIS until the 23rd of January, 2026.

According to media reports, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had announced earlier this week that following "important talks on solving the problems of the Serbian oil company NIS with the US administration, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the State Department, as well as with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban," he expected phenomenal political news within 24 hours. However, the excellent news for Vučić came from Croatia, with the government in Zagreb announcing on Friday that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control had issued JANAF a license to continue transporting oil to the Serbian oil company NIS until January 23rd, enabling the continued supply of oil to NIS.

The license allows for the continuation of the supply of oil to NIS with oil of non-Russian origin. The OFAC approval will benefit both sides, as NIS can restart the production of derivatives at the Pančevo refinery, while JANAF was suffering financial losses after being forced to reduce the flow of oil to a minimum.

"This decision clearly shows that the US administration recognizes Croatia as an important partner, which with its energy infrastructure contributes to reducing European dependence on Russian energy," the Croatian Government announced in a statement.

For its part JANAF said that it is ready to resume supplying oil to the refinery in Pančevo immediately. NIS has since announced that it will be able to pay for 85 000 tons of oil from Croatia's Omišalj terminal on the Island of Krk by Monday January 5th. JANAF has also expressed a strong interest in acquiring the Russian stake in NIS after western sanctions threatened its supply of crude oil, however, on Friday Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić explained why the US approved the resumption of oil transport and revealed who the likely buyer is: "Why is the 23rd important? Because I think that at that time the Americans expect to see all of the main points of the future contract between the seller of the Serbian oil company NIS and the future buyer, which in this case will most likely be the Hungarian company MOL."

The Hungarian MOL Group is the largest shareholder of Croatia’s INA Oil and Gas Company, holding a 49.08% stake in the company and management rights in INA, while the Croatian government is the second-largest shareholder. The relationship between the two largest shareholders is at best tense, with ongoing negotiations and legal disputes between MOL and the Croatian government over INA's future. There are also talks of the government potentially buying out MOL's stake in INA.

Source: HRT