Vucic: Serbia will lose access to oil imports when the deadline for sanctions looms.
Serbia may lose access to essential oil imports as of Friday, after discussions to stop the imposition by the United States of sanctions on its sole oil refinery failed. President Aleksandar Vucic stated this in an interview published.
The waiver of sanctions expires at midnight. If it is not extended, NIS, which is owned by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom in majority, may face a reduction in crude oil supply.
NIS is the sole oil refinery in Serbia, with a capacity of 4.8 millions tons per year. This facility covers most of Serbia's energy requirements.
Vucic, quoted in the Financial Times of Britain on Thursday, said he didn't expect a deal to be made at the last minute.
Vucic, speaking to the FT from Belgrade, said: "We have been talking with the Americans, the Russians and everyone" to find a solution. "We did not see any change in the American approach."
Later on Thursday, he was to speak with the Serbian people about the situation.
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.
On February 27, after NIS's first request for a waiver of sanctions, OFAC postponed sanctions for 30 more days to give NIS time to work out a solution with Russian companies. Gazprom transferred a stake of approximately 5.15% of NIS to Gazprom on February 26 in an effort to avoid sanctions.
Gazprom, which is now more heavily focused on oil revenue and therefore subject to harsher Western sanctions, does not have an absolute majority of NIS. The changes echoed the 2022 move that allowed Gazprom to avoid European Union sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Gazprom owns 44.85%, whereas Gazprom (whose main source of income is gas) has 11.3%. Serbian government owns 29.87%, while small shareholders make up the rest.
NIS imports 80% of the crude oil it needs via Janaf in Croatia, and covers the rest with its own crude production in Serbia. The two companies have agreed to transport 10 million tons crude oil between December 2026 and 2024.
In a statement made earlier this month by Ante Susnjar, the Economy Minister of Croatia, a member of the EU, Janaf said it was looking at buying all of Russia's stakes in NIS. (Reporting from Kanjyik ghosh and Aleksandar vsaovic in Belgrade, editing by Susan Fenton & Mark Heinrich.)
(source: Reuters)
