Russia agrees to transfer control of Serbian NIS to a "third party"
Photo: NIS.rs

The Russian owners of the Serbian oil company NIS (Naftna Industrija Srbije) have sent a request to the US Treasury Department to extend its license to operate based on negotiations with a third party. About it said minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia Dubravka Jedovic-Handanovic.

According to her, the request states that the Russian side is "ready to relinquish control and influence over NIS" in favor of a "third party."

"The state of Serbia has officially supported this request," the minister said, adding that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has already responded with "some comments."

"We hope that it will present its position within a week. Time is running out and we need to find a solution, but citizens should not suffer and be left without fuel. This will not and should not happen," said Jedovic-Handanovic.

The largest shareholder of NIS is Gazprom Neft, which owns 44.85% of the shares. Another 11.3% is controlled by St. Petersburg-based JSC Intelligence, which is managed by Gazprom Capital. Serbia owns 29.87% of the company. Thus, the structure can generally be considered controlled by the Gazprom holding.

US sanctions imposed in January against NIS due to Russian control, entered into force on October 9 after the expiration of the last grace period.

on October 15, the information, that the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic has offered the Russian owners of NIS to temporarily buy out their stake in the company to circumvent US sanctions and retain control over the assets.

However, the Russian side "was not inclined to make such a decision, and they would prefer to sell part of their stake in NIS to a third party, potentially even the United States."

  • NIS is the largest energy company in the Balkans. It is engaged in the exploration, production and refining of oil and natural gas. The company owns serbia's only oil refinery and a network of more than 400 filling stations in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Romania.