US delays sanctions on Serbian oil company NIS linked to Russia
US delays sanctions against Serbian oil company for another 4 days (photo: Getty Images)
The United States has postponed sanctions against the Serbian oil company NIS for another four days. The restrictions will be introduced on October 1, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said, according to Radio Free Europe's Balkan Service.
The United States included Serbia's largest oil company in the sanctions list on January 10 due to the so-called secondary risk resulting from the predominant Russian ownership in this company in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Sanctions against NIS have been postponed six times, most recently until September 26.
Meanwhile, the Serbian authorities held negotiations with the Russian and American sides.
"We were extremely correct toward our Russian and American partners, we will try to be correct, but people must know that we will have to pay an extremely high price," Vučić said.
Vučić noted that Serbia is a "collateral victim of relations between the Americans and the Russians."
At the same time, the ownership structure of NIS has undergone repeated changes. The Russian company Gazprom left the ownership structure of NIS in September, and another company controlled by Gazprom, Intelligents from St. Petersburg, became one of the significant owners.
US sanctions against NIS
The company NIS, in which Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%, Gazprom 11.3%, and the Serbian government 29.9%, operates the only oil refinery in Serbia, located in the city of Pančevo near Belgrade.
In July, the company applied to the United States for a special license that would postpone the full implementation of sanctions and allow the company to continue its operations after July 29. The permit enables NIS to avoid the complete application of sanctions.
The US agreed to postpone sanctions against the Serbian oil company NIS for the fifth time, which is owned by the Russians.
Russian Gazprom Neft was given 45 days to withdraw from the Serbian oil company NIS due to US sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury first imposed sanctions against the Russian oil sector on January 10, initially granting Gazprom Neft 45 days to withdraw from the shareholders of NIS.
