No exemptions from paying environmental tax – Inspection service examining NIS case

Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) will have to pay the environmental tax, unless it proves that the interstate contract exempts it from the obligation, said Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Branislav Nedimovic.

He said in his interview for Beta that “the position of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection is that everybody has to pay the amount defined by the regulations”.

– No matter who you are, you have to pay the taxes. The environmental inspection service has carried out the control procedures, but there’s a discrepancy between the amount of unpaid eco-tax it has determined and the amount calculated by NIS – Nedimovic said.

He added that the interstate agreement between Serbia and Russia on the sale of NIS “is not open to free interpretation”.

– If the state has made an exception, exempting Gazprom Neft from paying the environmental tax while selling NIS, it needs to be proved – Nedimovic said.

He added that all the details will be known once the inspection service prepares the report.

According to the media, NIS has not been paying the environmental tax since 2010, causing EUR 1.5 million of damage to the state budget annually.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

Gazprom Moscow

Nelt Co d.o.o Beograd

Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection

Naftna Industrija Srbije

NIS

Gazprom Neft

Gazprom

environmental tax

Branislav Nedimovic