Final warning: US delays Serbian oil company sanctions for fifth time
Photo: US delays sanctions on Serbian oil company for fifth time (Getty Images)
The United States has postponed sanctions against the Serbian oil company NIS, which is owned by Russian interests, for the fifth and final time, according to Reuters.
The delay in economic restrictions will last for one month, and no further extensions will be allowed.
"Our top priority is to maintain a stable supply of oil derivatives and to remove NIS from the OFAC sanctions list. The most important factor for that is progress in the dialogue between the US and Russia," said Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović.
NIS, in which Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%, Gazprom holds 11.3%, and the Serbian government owns 29.9%, operates the only oil refinery in Serbia, located in the city of Pančevo, near Belgrade.
Background
In July, the company requested a special license from the US to delay the full implementation of sanctions and allow it to continue operating after July 29. The license enables NIS to avoid full enforcement of the sanctions.
Up to now, NIS has already received four such special licenses from the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Earlier, we reported that Russian Gazprom Neft was given 45 days to exit the Serbian oil company NIS due to US sanctions.
OFAC first imposed sanctions on the Russian oil sector on January 10, initially giving Gazprom Neft 45 days to divest from NIS.
