BELGRADE (Reuters) -Russian-owned Serbian oil company NIS has asked the United States for a sixth waiver from sanctions that could cut its crude supply, the pro-government Tanjug news agensy said on Friday.
NIS, majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, operates Serbia’s only oil refinery in the town of Pancevo, just outside the capital Belgrade.
The facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million metric tons and covers most of the Balkan country’s needs.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control placed sanctions on Russia’s oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS.
NIS has so far secured five waivers, with the latest one set to expire on August 27.
Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government owns 29.87%, with small shareholders accounting for the rest.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic. Editing by Mark Potter)
