Serbia imports more gasoline in first eight months of this year than in all of 2023 and 2024

Serbia imported more gasoline in the first eight months of this year than in all of 2023 and 2024, a large amount of diesel was also imported, and there is still room to increase imports of derivatives, said the Secretary General of the Association of Oil Companies of Serbia, Tomislav Micovic.

He stated in an appearance on RTS that all oil companies had started to increase imports since January, that is, to rely on supplies from the Pancevo Refinery, and that logistics was a bigger problem than ensuring a sufficient amount of derivatives.

– There is still room to increase (imports), not like at the beginning, but there is certainly still room to increase. It is necessary that there are enough goods in the entire supply chain where they are buying, that there are enough means of transport to bring them to Serbia. The least problem is the retail facilities in the country. There are enough of them so that the entire quantity needed by the market can be distributed – said Micovic.

When asked what is necessary to further increase deliveries, Micovic says that it is difficult to say.

The problem that will arise when payment transactions are suspended at the petrol stations of the Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS) next week is that the amount of derivatives that will be placed on the market through NIS stations is counted in the overall supply balance.

– The last thing we need at the moment is for some oil derivatives to be trapped in NIS storage facilities and that they cannot be placed on the market due to payment transactions. In that sense, additional supplies should then be supplied from imports. I sincerely hope that a way will be found so that these derivatives do not simply remain trapped, and work is already underway to ensure that they are delivered to the market regardless of all other circumstances – added Micovic.

When asked if this is the moment when gasoline and diesel from mandatory reserves could be put on the market, Micovic said that “so far we have no experience of putting diesel and gasoline from mandatory reserves on the market.”

– Since mandatory reserves were formed, there has not been a single release of mandatory reserves. And this will be a real test for everyone on how the supply chain will function. However, the moment when goods from mandatory reserves should be put on the market is the moment when NIS has exhausted all its stocks, because they still have stocks that they are putting on the market. At the moment when they can no longer do that, it is difficult to expect that they will be able to do so again by importing additional supplies – says Micovic.

Speaking about what the plans of other companies are in the event that this scenario occurs, Micovic says that “there is no plan in advance,” and that they will do “the maximum to meet all market demands.”

– The delivery will be increased in accordance with how many customers come to these gas stations. There is no plan in terms of extending working hours. I think it will be possible to supply all of this and with a little more intensive logistics, delivery to the gas stations will be possible – he adds.

Micovic said that because of all the above, this was a great opportunity to “return ownership of the Refinery to Serbian hands.”

– It will not be easy, it will not be cheap, but to return ownership of the Refinery to our hands, to Serbian hands. The state does not literally have to be the owner who manages it, it can be domestic capital, it can also be state capital that will take it, but what is important at that moment is that the state is not directly involved in the management of Naftna industrija Srbije – Micovic believes.

Udruženje naftnih kompanija Srbije Beograd

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

Association of Oil Companies of Serbia

NIS

Tomislav Mićović

oil derivatives

import

mandatory reserves