Hungary's MOL has U.S. approval to continue NIS acquisition talks

BUDAPEST, March 24 (Reuters) - Hungary's MOL said it received U.S. approval to continue negotiations regarding the acquisition of a majority stake in Serbia's NIS refinery, with the deadline for negotiations extended until May 22.

In December, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) gave NIS until March 24 to negotiate the divestment of the stakes held by Russian firms Gazprom GAZP.MM and Gazprom Neft SIBN.MM, at 44.9% and 11.3% respectively.

In January, MOL said it had signed a binding agreement with Russian companies to buy their stakes in NIS and the United Arab Emirates' ADNOC would be a minority stakeholder.