The United States has delayed for two more months the enforcement of American sanctions against Serbia’s Oil Industry (NIS), Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Saturday.
The sanctions were originally set to take effect on April 28 but have now been postponed until June 27, Vučić said via Instagram.
“Good news for the citizens of Serbia. Serbia has secured a new postponement of sanctions against NIS, this time for two months, until June 27. Thank you to our American partners for understanding Serbia’s position,” Vučić stated.
The United States placed NIS on the sanctions list on January 10 due to its ownership links to Russia’s Gazprom Neft, aiming to prevent Russia from using energy sector revenues to fund the war in Ukraine.
Since then, Washington has postponed the enforcement of its sanctions against NIS three times.
Earlier this week, NIS announced that it had applied to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for a special license to suspend the implementation of sanctions. The Serbian Government also requested the extension from U.S. authorities.
Russian companies Gazprom Neft and Gazprom currently own 56.15% of NIS shares, while Serbia retains ownership of nearly one-third of the shares.
In 2008, Serbia sold 51% of NIS shares to Russia’s state-owned Gazprom Neft for €400 million, without an open tender.
Related: The US seeks “zero” Russian ownership in NIS.
In May 2022, due to new European Union sanctions, Gazprom Neft transferred six percent of its NIS shares to Gazprom, the parent company, which has not yet been sanctioned by the EU.
NIS remains the only company in Serbia involved in oil exploration, production, and refining, as well as natural gas production.
It operates over 400 gas stations across Serbia and neighboring countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Crude oil refining is conducted at the Pančevo Oil Refinery, which operates within the NIS system.
