BELGRADE (Reuters) -Following new United States sanctions against Russia’s oil sector, Gazprom Neft will be given 45 days to exit ownership of Serbian oil company NIS, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday.
NIS is majority owned by Gazprom Neft which holds a 50% stake and Gazprom which holds 6.15% of shares. The Serbian government holds a further 29.87% with small shareholders accounting for the remainder.
The Biden administration on Friday imposed its broadest package of sanctions yet targeting Russia’s oil and gas revenues in an attempt to give Kyiv and the incoming administration of Donald Trump leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine.
“They demand from us a complete exit of Russians from NIS, remove, not reduce,” Vucic said. He said the deadline for the Balkan country to close the deal with Russians could be extended to March 10, at the latest.
Any deal would have to be approved by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, Vucic said.
Croatia’s pipeline operator Janaf, through which NIS gets most of its crude oil, said the full application of the sanctions will occur in 45 days.
“Until then it is possible to adjust and take measures that would enable disinvestment and support the safe supply of oil to the Republic of Serbia,” it said in a statement.
NIS, which is among the biggest contributors to Serbia’s state budget, had signed a contract with Janaf for the transport of 10 million tons of oil through Croatia from Jan. 1, 2024 until Dec. 31, 2026.
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac and Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
