US sanctions on Serbia's NIS Oil Firm are lifted
The United States has granted a third waiver of sanctions to the Serbian oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije. It is owned by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom.
NIS has a single refinery with a capacity of 4.8 millions tons per year in Serbia. The crude oil supply is sufficient to cover the majority of Balkan countries' needs.
Vucic posted on Instagram that "Serbia managed to secure another sanctions waiver this time for two month, until June 27."
On January 10, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed sanctions against Russia's oil industry and gave Gazprom a 45-day deadline to sell its NIS shares.
The Serbian government and NIS secured so far two waivers of one month from OFAC in order to try and find a resolution with Russian companies. The second one is set to expire April 28.
This is the first time that sanctions have been suspended for two months.
Vucic thanked his American partners for their support and understanding of Serbia's position.
Gazprom transferred to Gazprom stakes in the amount of around 5,15% in NIS on February 26 in order to avoid sanctions.
Gazprom owns 11.3% of NIS. Gazprom holds 44.85%. Serbian government owns 29.87% of NIS, while small shareholders hold the remainder.
NIS imports 80% of the crude oil it needs via Janaf, Croatia's pipeline operator. The rest is covered by the crude oil produced in Serbia. (Reporting and editing by William Mallard, Susan Fenton and Aleksandar Vasovic)
(source: Reuters)
