Russian interests are negotiating their withdrawal from key Serbian oil company NIS which now faces US sanctions, Serbia鈥檚 energy minister said Tuesday.
After allowing several postponements since January, the US Treasury started applying sanctions against NIS on October 9 as part of a campaign by US President Donald Trump against the Russian energy sector over the Ukraine war.
NIS is the latest Eastern European energy company to seek a new owner because of sanctions. Bulgaria鈥檚 parliament on Friday passed a law to let a major refinery owned by Russia鈥檚 Lukoil come under state control. Hungary鈥檚 Prime Minister Viktor Orban has secured a one year exemption from US sanctions so that his country can keep buying Russian oil.
Russia鈥檚 Gazprom Neft and its owner Gazprom have held nearly 45 percent of NIS since 2009. Gazprom recently transferred about 11 percent to another Russian firm, Intelligence. The Serbian state has just under 30 percent.
Serbian officials feared that continued Russian control of NIS could harm the Balkan country鈥檚 economy.
鈥楾he Russian owners of the NIS company have sent a request to OFAC (the US Treasury鈥檚 Office of Foreign Assets Control) to request an extension of the operating licence, on the basis of negotiations with a third party,鈥� Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic said in a statement on Instagram.
鈥楾he request indicates that the Russian side is ready to cede control and influence in the NIS company to a third party,鈥� added the minister who did not indicate who the potential buyer was.
NIS runs Serbia鈥檚 main refinery at Pancevo near Belgrade which supplies about 80 percent of the country鈥檚 needs.
The Serbian government has 鈥榦fficially supported鈥� the Russian request and OFAC could give an answer this week, the minister said. 鈥榃e must find a solution.鈥�
NIS employs about 13,500 workers and has more than 400 petrol stations, mostly in Serbia though there are 80 in Bosnia, Bulgaria and Romania. NIS had turnover of 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in 2024 but announced a loss of 153 million euros at the end of the year.
