Washington has granted a new postponement, 30 days, sanctions against the Serbia NIS oil and gas company, attacked by the United States government because it is controlled by the Russian Gigrom Gazprom, the Serbian Ministry of Energy announced Wednesday. This is the sixth stay granted by the United States Treasury to NIS (Serbian oil industry) from the announcement of sanctions in January by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, shortly before Donald Trump. Nis was then among many companies led by a wide range of American sanctions against the Russian energy sector.
Serbian energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic emphasized that Serbia had “managed to preserve his energy stability” thanks to these sanctions reports.
The new stay is valid until September 26.
Serbia is still very dependent on Russian gas
The main player in the Serbian Petroleum and Gas market, NIS manages the only refinery in the country, in Pancepo, near Belgrade. NIS is approximately 45%of Gazprom Neft, for its Gazprom parent company in around 11%, and by the Serbian government to almost 30%. The remaining actions belong to minority shareholders. The company employs about 13,500 people and manages more than 400 service stations, most of them in Serbia and around 80 in Bosnia, Bulgaria and Romania.
At the same time, Serbia depends mainly on Russian gas deliveries. After the expiration in May of a multi -year contract on gas deliveries, Belgrade and Moscow should sign a new contract for three years, said Serbian director Gazière Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic. This contract should allow Serbia for up to 2.5 billion m3 of Russian gas per year according to the Serbian chief.
Source: BFM TV
