Vucic: No license to continue the operation of the Refinery, if we do not reach an agreement with Russia for gas by Friday, we will negotiate with others from Monday

Although we expected Naftna industrija Srbije to receive a license to continue the operation of the Refinery, we did not receive a positive decision from the US, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after a meeting with the teams responsible for the country’s energy stability and security. As he stated, they agreed, at Serbia’s risk, to secure payment transactions with NIS by the end of the week. Vucic also announced that if a gas agreement with Russia is not reached by Friday, Serbia will negotiate with others from Monday, adding that the money had been secured.

As reported by RTS, Vucic said that supplies of all types of fuel – gasoline, diesel, kerosene – were sufficient until the end of January, and that people would only have to go to some other gas stations.

- A total of 47% of the turnover in petroleum products was carried out at NIS stations, which are located in the best locations, and now this will be a problem. In total, we have more than 204,000 tons of diesel in stock, and 82% of total fuel consumption is diesel. We have slightly less gasoline, but enough - assures Vucic.

He added that there were 54,500 tons of fuel oil in reserves, which was used as fuel in heating plants, but also in power plants to improve the calorific value of coal, and that the annual consumption was around 44,000 tons.

- Janaf did not allow us to import oil that was not intended for the Refinery, but for our commodity reserves - said Vucic and emphasized that in accordance with the measures, Serbia continued to import petroleum products.

- Our storage sites are full. The Energy Stability Team will meet on a daily basis, and will announce information every two days. Energy stability issues will be dealt with primarily by the Government, while strategic issues will be decided by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister - he said.

Vucic pointed out that the real consequences of the sanctions on NIS were such that Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic would inform NIS that they had no indication that the Americans would grant a license for NIS to continue operating, which would cause the refinery to cease operations.

- We have granted permission to cease operating the refinery. Yesterday we had talks with people from Washington - Vucic pointed out.

Speaking about secondary sanctions, Vucic explained that the agreement was to ensure payment transactions with NIS by the end of the week, for NIS to pay salaries and suppliers..., and that after that, decisions would be made day by day, noting that the state was now taking a risk because the NBS and other banks could receive secondary sanctions at any time.