Serbia’s NIS oil firm gets new sanctions waiver from US

BELGRADE: Serbian oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije, which is majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, secured a third sanctions waiver from the United States, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday.

NIS operates a single oil refinery in Serbia with annual capacity of 4.8 million tons. It covers most of the Balkan country’s needs and the introduction of sanctions would cut its crude supply.

“Serbia has managed to secure a new sanctions waiver, this time for two months, until June 27,” Vucic wrote on Instagram.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially placed sanctions on Russia’s oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS.

Serbia’s government and NIS have so far secured two one-month waivers from OFAC to try to find a solution with the Russian companies, with the second one set to expire on April 28.

This is the first two-month sanctions reprieve so far.

“Thank you to our American partners and their understanding for Serbia’s position,” Vucic said.

On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred stakes of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions. Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government holds a 29.87% stake, with small shareholders accounting for the rest.

NIS imports about 80% of its needs through Croatia’s pipeline operator Janaf. The remainder is covered by its own crude oil production in Serbia.