The Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) has submitted an official request to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury (OFAC) for a postponement of sanctions, announced on Tuesday, February 4, the Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia, Dubravka Gjedovic Handanovic.
She added that the US has been asked to extend the sanctions for at least 90 days and that this request has been supported by the governments of Serbia and Hungary.
The United States placed NIS on its sanctions list on January 10 due to its ownership stake in the Russian company Gazprom Neft, with the aim of preventing Russia from using revenues from the energy sector for the war in Ukraine.
Russian companies, Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, own the majority of shares in NIS (56.15 percent), while Serbia owns almost a third of the shares.
"The request concerns obtaining general or special licenses that would enable NIS to continue its activity while an acceptable solution for the ownership and management structure is sought, in order for the company, which is important at a regional and strategic level for energy stability, to continue operating," said Gjedovic Handanovic.
She stressed that the Serbian Government supports the request for granting such a license to NIS, as sanctions "would harm the company's ability to supply the citizens of Serbia with oil and its products."
"Given the importance of NIS for the Serbian and regional economy, we urgently request that OFAC consider immediate assistance in the form of a suspension of sanctions for at least 90 days, until a sustainable solution that would lead to the lifting of sanctions is considered," added Gjedovic Handanovic.
She stressed that NIS employees and citizens "have no reason to worry" and recalled that US officials have repeated several times that the sanctions are not directed against Serbia and its citizens.
Authorities in Belgrade are negotiating with Washington and Moscow to find a solution and mitigate the negative consequences for Serbia and its citizens.
United States officials assure that there will be no economic consequences for Serbia if Russian ownership is removed from the NIS company.
In 2008, Serbia sold 51 percent of the shares of the NIS company to the Russian state-owned company, Gazprom Neft, for a price of 400 million euros, without a tender.
In May 2022, due to new sanctions announced by the European Union, Gazprom Neft sold six percent of its shares to Gazprom, the parent company that is not yet under sanctions by the European bloc.
NIS is the only company in Serbia that deals with the exploration, production and processing of oil, as well as the production of natural gas.
It owns more than 400 gas stations in Serbia and in countries in the region – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Bulgaria.
Crude oil processing is carried out at the Pančevo Oil Refinery, which operates within the NIS system. REL (A2 Televizion)
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