Djedovic Handanovic: We have not heard a plan or program for NIS from the Russian side

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic stated that at the urgent extraordinary session of the board of directors, representatives of the management of Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS) had not heard “either a plan or a program,” which she assessed as “worrying.”

In an appearance on RTS, she stated that the meeting was held at the initiative of Serbian representatives of the board and added that Chairman of the Executive Board of Gazpromneft Aleksandr Dyukov and Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia Pavel Sorokin would come to Belgrade and meet with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic on Monday.

– We have previously spoken with our Russian partners, their plan was to wait for the war in Ukraine to end, for an agreement to be reached between Russia and the US, that this would affect the sanctions, but that we are witnesses that this did not happen, that sanctions had been introduced. In the coming days, we expect to hear the plan of the Russian partners, what they have thought up... We expect proposals and a plan, not for the next few weeks, but for three, four, five, six months, in order to ensure security of supply and the operation of the refinery in Pancevo – said Djedovic Handanovic.

She added that the sanctions against NIS had been announced in December 2024, that they had been postponed several times, and that at the meeting they had also heard that the company’s management hoped that Vucic would “find a solution at a higher level.”

– But he does not have a magic wand. We repeat: what is the plan for the supply of crude oil, the operation of the refinery in Pancevo, for more than 13,000 employees, and for this plan not to include the passage of time... Let the plan not be that time passes, that December comes and that the plan is not there yet, because we expect that Serbia’s interests will be protected, that our energy security will be protected – stated Djedovic Handanovic.

She also stated that Serbia did not want to nationalize anyone’s property, that it was “scandalous” that property, primarily Russian, was “being seized in Europe today” and that Serbia wanted to be a safe place for investors. When asked whether domestic fuel supplies were already being used up, the minister stated that she expected a new delivery of 50,000 tons of derivatives that had already been paid for, that there were enough reserves and that citizens should not be afraid, but that the Russian side announced the day before that it had crude oil for the refinery in Pancevo until November 1, and that NIS had its own supplies that could only last until the beginning of December.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

Ministry of Mining and Energy

Naftna industrija Srbije

NIS

Gazpromneft

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

Aleksandr Dyukov

Pavel Sorokin

Aleksandar Vučić

sanctions on NIS

plan for NIS

sale of NIS

gas supply