Naftna industrija Srbije
Petroleum Industry Srbije ( NIS, Cyrillic Нафтна индустрија Србије - НИС; meaning: Petroleum Industry of Serbia ) is an oil company from Serbia. It was founded in 1991 and sold in 2008 to Gazprom.
The principal activity of the Company is the exploration of gas and oil in Serbia (especially in Vojvodina ) and the manufacture, importation, processing, transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons (oil and gas). NIS is based in Novi Sad.
In 2007, NIS made a profit of around 9 billion RSD ( U.S. $ 170 million ). NIS has 11,000 employees, operates 500 service stations throughout Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The Pančevo Oil Refinery refined 4.8 million tonnes of crude oil annually, the refined Novi Sad oil refinery annually 2.6 million tons of oil. This, as well as the gas refinery in Elemir near Novi Sad are the property of NIS.
The privatization
The privatization of the company began in 2007. Several companies, including Gazprom, MOL, OMV, Hellenic Petroleum, Rompetrol and Lukoil had confirmed their interest in acquiring the company. On January 25, Serbia and Russia signed in 2008 an agreement was sold after the 51% of NIS shares to Gazprom for € 400 million. In addition to the contracts with Gazprom, the contact on the inclusion of Serbia in the South Stream project and the construction of a gas reserve in Banatski Dvor has been resumed.