Serbia has received another, already fifth postponement of sanctions against its energy company NIS, which operates a single oil refinery in the country. Its majority owners are jointly Russian companies Gazprom NEFT and Gazprom. Reuters informed about it.
The postponement was set for one month, with a longer postponement of Serbia failed to negotiate, said Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Ojovičová Handanovičová. Belgrade tried to postpone up to 180 days. However, according to the Minister, the priority of Serbia is to remove the NIS from the sanction list of the US Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “The key factor for this is progress in negotiations between the US and Russia,” she added.
OFAC imposed sanctions for the Russian oil sector, including Gazprom Nem, and its subsidiaries on January 10. Serbia then sought from the postponement of sanctions, which he has always succeeded.
Nis company in which Gazprom Nefť owns a 44.9 % stake, Gazprom 11.3-percent and Serbian government 29.9 % shareoperates a single refinery in the country. It is located in Pančevo. The refinery has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the needs of Serbia.
About 80 % of oil is imported by NIS through the Croatian Operator System Operator JanAF. The rest of the Serbian society provides through domestic mining.
