Former Minister Zorana Mihajlović Discusses Serbia’s Options for NIS Serbia’s energy future is being negotiated on a geopolitical fault line, and former energy minister Zorana Mihajlović is urging Belgrade to stop watching from the sidelines and be ready to buy its way to control.

How the NIS–MOL drama unfolded

Talks over the Russian stake in the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) have centered on a potential deal with Hungary’s MOL, under the watchful eye of U.S. sanctions regulators. As negotiations dragged and uncertainty grew, Mihajlović stepped out to sketch a Plan B: if MOL walks away, Serbia should move to acquire the Russian share itself.

Pro‑government outlets amplified her core message: Serbia must not let itself be a passive object of great‑power bargaining.

Mihajlović’s proposal: Serbia as buyer of last resort

Mihajlović argues that if no agreement with MOL is reached, “Serbia can offer to take over the Russian stake in NIS,” framing the country as a “serious state” that has been ready from the start to buy that share. Any talks with Moscow, she insists, cannot bypass the Serbian government.

Her red line is the Pančevo refinery: it must operate at full capacity, every day, as a non‑negotiable condition in any deal with MOL or others. She also wants a larger Serbian ownership share in NIS, to give the state real blocking power over decisions “not in the interest of NIS.”

Geopolitics, OFAC, and the pro‑government spin

In the pro‑government telling, Serbia is both victim and survivor of others’ power games: this crisis “did not depend on us” but on relations between Russia and the U.S., yet Serbia has shown it is “strong and stable” and “can survive in every variant.”

All eyes now turn to Washington. Mihajlović openly hopes the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC will extend the license for talks beyond the May 22 deadline, calling it crucial for keeping Pančevo running and ensuring fuel supplies. If MOL doesn’t bite and OFAC grants more time, her message is blunt: Serbia should be ready to put its money on the table.