Vucic ruled out nationalization of oil company NIS in order to delay US sanctions

President of SerbiaAleksandar Vučić announced that the US would agree to defer sanctions against the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) only if it is nationalized, but he has no intention of taking that step. The president made this statement on the Pink television channel.

"There are no more options to delay sanctions. There's only one option left: if I said, 'Perhaps tomorrow I'll ask for the nationalization of property,' that would be the last thing I'd say, but I don't want that," Vucic said.

He added that the country expects "many problems" with gas, saying that the country's authorities have been trying to find a solution for ten months.

Earlier, Vučić announced that US sanctions against the Russian-Serbian oil company NIS, previously postponed until September 26, would take effect on October 1. At the same time, the Serbian leader hoped that a "miracle" would happen before October 1, but predicted a "difficult winter" for the country.

The US imposed sanctions against NIS in January, under the administrationJoe Biden . The reason was the company's Russian stake. Since then, Washington has postponed the imposition of restrictions on the company six times, most recently in August. The postponement was then extended until September 26. RTS later reported an extension until October 8.

Moscow considers Western sanctions illegal and demands their lifting.

NIS is the largest energy company in the Balkans, engaged in the exploration, production, and refining of oil and natural gas. The company owns an oil refinery in Pancevo, near Belgrade, and a network of over 400 petrol stations.

Gazprom Neft owns 44.8% of NIS shares, the Serbian government owns 29.8%, and the remaining shares are held by minority shareholders.

In September, NIS announced that 11.3% of the company's shares, previously held by PJSC Gazprom, had been transferred to JSC Intelligence "under an agreement on the gratuitous assignment/transfer of shares in a joint-stock company." According to Interfax, this organization is managed by Gazprom Capital LLC. PJSC Gazprom retains direct ownership of one NIS share .

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