Serbia has been given three months by the US to find a buyer for NIS, a company where Russia is the majority shareholder
Gazprom will have to give up its shares in NIS Photo: OLIVER BUNIC / AFP / Profimedia
Serbia has secured a three-month license from the US to try to find a buyer for its Russian-majority oil company NIS, hit by sanctions that threaten fuel supplies ahead of winter, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic-Handanovic said, according to Reuters.
Serbia announced this week that Gazprom Neft ( SIBN.MM ) and Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM — which together own a majority 56 percent stake in the country's only oil refinery ( NIIS.BEL ) — have sent a request to the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), saying they are willing to cede control of the company to a third party.
OFAC introduced sanctions against Gazprom GAZP.MM back in January, but they were delayed several times in the case of NIS, finally taking effect on October 8.
The US Treasury has approved a three-month license for NIS, giving the owners time to look for a buyer, the Serbian energy minister announced. The company and its oil refinery will not be allowed to operate in the meantime.
“An approval has been received for property negotiations … until February 13,” she said.
Banks have stopped processing payments to NIS and the JANAFJANF.ZA pipeline in Croatia has stopped delivering crude oil. Officials estimate that the refinery can only operate until Nov. 25 without new supply.
“We have difficult decisions to make”
The US wants the Russian owners to leave the company completely, the Serbian energy minister also said, noting that Belgrade could also try to take over NIS.
“As energy minister, I think we have difficult decisions to make, whether it's taking over the company and compensating (the Russian owners) for damages. I know that President (Aleksandar) Vucic is against it,” Dubravka Djedovic-Handanovic added, adding that the government would discuss a possible solution at a meeting on Sunday.
Within NIS, Gazprom Neft has a 44.9% stake, and Gazprom, 11.3%. The Serbian government owns 29.9% of the shares, with the rest owned by smaller shareholders and employees.
