Vucic: US to impose sanctions on NIS from October 1

US sanctions against Serbian oil and gas company NIS, which is partly controlled by Russian giant Gazprom, will come into effect on October 1, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said last night from New York, Agence France-Presse reported under the “urgent” label.

As a major player in the Serbian oil and gas market, NIS operates the country’s only refinery, in Pancevo, near Belgrade, which supplies about 80% of the Serbian market. Gazprom holds about 45% of the refinery.

NIS has been the target of US sanctions against the Russian energy sector since January, but has had several successive delays since then.

– The Americans have extended the suspension of sanctions for just four more days. So, starting from October 1, we will have sanctions – Vucic told Serbian media during a visit to the US.

NIS employs approximately 13,500 people and operates more than 400 gas stations, mostly in Serbia and about 80 in Bosnia, Bulgaria and Romania, with a turnover of approximately 3.3 billion euros in 2024, AFP reports.

The implementation of sanctions risks dealing a blow to the Serbian economy, warned Goran Radosavljevic, secretary general of WPC Energy Serbia and professor of economics.

– There could be difficulties in supplying petroleum products, given that NIS supplies more than 80% of the wholesale market – Radosavljevic told AFP.

According to him, petroleum products directly affect transport prices, and transport affects the prices of all other goods and services.

The sanctions, introduced under former US President Joseph Biden, are aimed at reducing profits from Russian oil and gas trade after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

NIS receives new special license from the US, valid until October 1

The US Department of the Treasury has issued a new special license that allows Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS) to carry out operational activities until October 1 of this year at the latest, NIS announced today.

The license was issued yesterday, and today is the deadline for NIS to be suspended from the sanctions that the US Department of the Treasury imposed on the company in January of this year due to its Russian ownership.

On March 14, NIS also submitted a request to the US Department of the Treasury to remove the company from the sanctions list (SND - Specially Designated Nationals), which, as the company stated, is a long and complex process. “In such conditions, the company is trying to adapt its operations to the new circumstances and the priorities remain to maintain stability in the domestic oil derivatives market, as well as to preserve the social stability of its employees,” the statement said.

The company has secured sufficient stocks of crude oil for processing, as well as sufficient quantities of petroleum products to supply the market at this time. NIS gas stations are, as the company claims, properly supplied with all types of petroleum products and ready to meet the needs of consumers.

NIS states that it respects the laws of Serbia and other countries in whose markets it operates and that its operations have not contributed to the introduction of sanctions that threaten the company’s work and the social stability of more than 13,000 employees.

NIS also continues to cooperate with the US Department of the Treasury on the request for removal from the sanctions list and license extension and with shareholders to resolve the newly created situation.

Janaf on sanctions against NIS: We will seek a license extension

Following the statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that US sanctions on Naftna industrija Srbije would come into effect on October 1, the Croatian company Janaf, which would in that case be left without a large part of its revenue, has made a statement.

– Janaf has received the license required to continue executing the Crude Oil Transport Agreement signed with NIS until October 1, 2025, and in the coming days, through its American lawyer and with the support of the Croatian Government, it will contact the American Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the extension of the license – says the statement from Jadranski naftovod (Janaf).

The key to the extension of the license after October 1, 2025, will be the activities of NIS towards the American authorities, stated Janaf.

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

Nacionalni energetski komitet Srbije

Predsedništvo Republike Srbije

Gazprom

NIS

president of Serbia

Janaf

WPC Energy Serbia

Aleksandar Vučić

Goran Radosavljević

sanctions