Serbia's Vucic expects sale contract for NIS oil firm by March

ATHENS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expects binding terms for the sale of Russian-owned oil company NIS, which is under U.S. sanctions, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control within 48 hours, the Tanjug news agency reported.

A final contract for the stake sale by NIS' Russian owners could be completed by February or March, Vucic said on Tuesday in an interview with Tanjug in Abu Dhabi, adding that the U.S. might extend an operating licence for NIS after receiving the term sheets.

"After we deliver binding terms of the contract, it is clear in what direction we go and there could hardly be any deal-breaker after that," Vucic told Tanjug.

The United States imposed sanctions on NIS in October as part of broader measures targeting Russia's energy sector over Moscow's war in Ukraine. But it granted the company a temporary operating licence until January 23, allowing it a small window during winter to snap up international cargoes.

Washington has also given NIS until March 24 to negotiate the divestment of stakes held by Russia's Gazprom and its oil unit, Gazprom Neft , which is also under Western sanctions.

The Serbian government has said it backed ongoing sale talks between the Russian owners and Hungary's MOL .

Asked if MOL or Abu Dhabi's national oil company ADNOC could buy stakes in NIS, Vucic said: "Perhaps both of them."