Talks are underway regarding the possibility that Hungarian oil and gas company MOL could purchase a stake in Serbia’s state-owned energy company NIS, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said today. He stated that if an agreement is reached, the transaction would be a “normal market operation,” but stressed that discussions are still in an early phase, Reuters reported.
Gulyás added that it would be in NIS’s interest to bring an end to Russian ownership and that one of the options being considered is a greater role for Hungary’s MOL.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced yesterday in Belgrade, after meeting with Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović, that MOL would increase oil exports to Serbia by 2.5 times. He also said that Hungary would use all available means to support Serbia in securing oil supplies, according to media reports.
