US imposes sanctions on Serbian oil industry over ties to Russia
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that in a few days the United States will impose sanctions against JSC NIS (Oil Industry of Serbia), which is one of the most profitable companies in the country.
The reason for this is that more than 56% of the concern’s shares belong to Gazprom Neft, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
" One of the most difficult pieces of news in recent years, we haven't received official notification yet, but our intelligence services have confirmed it ... The US is introducing full sanctions against the Serbian Oil Industry in a few days due to Russian ownership...
When a company is under American sanctions, no one will work with it. You saw this in Republika Srpska. Now, since we haven't received the documents, I don't know how much time they'll give us…. Of course, this opens up problems for us with our Russian friends in everything from politics to everything else ," the Serbian president said.
Vučić stressed that he does not understand the purpose of these sanctions, but if they are aimed at forcing Belgrade to join EU sanctions against Russia, then this will not happen.
"Is it possible to reduce the share of Russian ownership below 50 percent, to agree on this with the Russians... They have 56 percent now, so we should buy this part... I don't know what they will say about this, but let's start negotiations with the Russians," the Serbian president said.
He added that he plans to visit Moscow on May 9, 2025, together with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.
NIS is engaged in the exploration, production, and refining of oil and gas, the marketing of petroleum products, and the implementation of projects in the energy and petrochemical sectors. The concern has subsidiaries and representative offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Croatia, and Angola.
The US is imposing sanctions on the Serbian oil industry due to its ties to Russia.