Who would be ideal NIS buyer?: "MOL is second best option for acquiring Russian stake in company"

Economist Veljko Mijuskovic said today that the Hungarian MOL is the second best option to buy the Russian share in Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) because that company is "at the intersection of the interests of all parties, so it suits both the Russian and American sides and Serbia, since they have a strategic, economic and common interest in realizing this project."

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He stressed that the first best buyer of the Russian share in NIS would be the state of Serbia.

Mijuskovic told Tanjug - commenting on Russian ambassador Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko saying that MOL was the most attractive company to all three parties and that "Serbia was not in the top spot with the offer" - that he did not know by what criteria Serbia was not that, considering that the state leadership said it was more than ready to offer the best possible price to buy even the entire package of shares.

When asked who should approve the initial agreement between the Hungarian and Russian companies before the signing of the acquisition contract, Mijuskovic said that it is first necessary to wait for the decision of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding the extension of the operating license, which expires today, and which he believes will be extended, and then the implementation of the agreement on the key elements between the parties.

"After that, a redistribution of the share package is possible, as well as offering the small shareholders, if MOL acquires more than 25 percent of the shares, to buy their shares at acceptable prices, too. Serbia can do the same, and whether the small shareholders will want to sell at all - that is their decision," he said.

Concerning the potential entry of ADNOC from the United Arab Emirates into the ownership structure of NIS, Mijuskovic said that MOL will probably buy the majority package, and then sell a part to ADNOC, and added that it is very important that Serbia has agreed to buy an additional 5 percent of shares from the portion that will be bought by MOL.

"We still don't know the exact percentages apart from what's related to Serbia, but what is important is that there has been agreement regarding further investments in the company, strategic steps and what each of the partners will be doing going forward," he said.

When it comes to HIP-Petrohemija, which will also be sold along with NIS, Mijuskovic stated that it is a matter of agreement between MOL and ADNOC, and assessed that Petrohemija is of greater strategic importance to ADNOC.

According to him, the most important thing for Serbia is that Petrohemija continues to work and that its workers have safety and stability, while the issue of ownership is also important, but secondary.

(Telegraf Biznis/Tanjug)