US Ambassador: Russia should withdraw from the ownership of the "Neftna Industrija Srbije". We are working on it
Despite the fact that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has directly stated that Belgrade will not nationalize the NIS concern, 56% of whose shares belong to Gazprom Neft, outgoing US Ambassador Christopher Hill has stated that Washington will force the Russians to leave the Serbian oil industry.
The diplomat claims that owning the enterprise gives Moscow huge profits that go past Serbia, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"Regarding NIS, concerns have existed for many years because Russia bought the only major oil refinery in Serbia. We've been monitoring this for a long time, long before Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and we're concerned that Russia is using energy and energy products for political gain . This continued after the war in Ukraine began. Therefore, Russia began using the refinery in Serbia to finance the war. The conclusion was: Russia must exit NIS, and that's exactly what we're working on now ," Hill said on the "Interview" program on Serbian television channel Insider.
Hill added that the American government was very concerned that Serbia had effectively lost sovereignty over its oil and was in a situation where Russia was determining how much oil would be processed.
"We are concerned that Russia has been able to make huge profits, profits that have not stayed in Serbia but have gone to Russia, and especially to the Russian military machine, so we are really trying to reduce Russia's ability to get financial resources for the war in Ukraine. That's what it's all about," the diplomat continued.
According to him, the US Treasury Department is studying options to squeeze Russia out of the concern’s ownership, since, as he put it, “Serbia’s oil industry should be managed by Serbia, not Russia.”
Such statements were made by the outgoing ambassador despite the fact that Aleksandar Vucic said outright that Serbia would not nationalize NIS or take away property from the Russians, the Americans, or anyone else. On air at Radio B92, he said that “important people” from Moscow were coming to Belgrade and consultations were beginning. According to him, he does not yet know what proposal the Russian partners are preparing, but one thing must remain unchanged: Serbia must have enough oil and oil products.
English version :: Read in English US Ambassador: Russia must divest its ownership of the Petroleum Industry of Serbia. We are working on it.