Serbia gets "bad news": US demands full Russian exit from NIS

Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Jedović says the country has received "bad news and a serious warning" from the United States regarding sanctions against Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), Nedeljnik reported.

"At the request of NIS’s lawyers, who approached the U.S. government and proposed an agreement on changes to the company’s management structure, the U.S. administration for the first time clearly and unequivocally stated — and put in writing — that it wants a complete change in the ownership held by Russian shareholders. In other words, it demands the withdrawal of Russian capital from NIS, and insists that there must be no attempts to conceal this through Gazprom affiliates or through the Russian government. The most difficult part for us is that we were not given a single day for NIS to continue operating," the minister said.

Jedović stressed that "it is impossible to change the ownership structure within seven or eight days," but noted that Serbia has been given some room for negotiations on the issue.

"We have approval to negotiate about ownership until February 13, but not approval for NIS and the refinery to continue operating. As the Minister of Energy, I believe we are facing extremely difficult decisions — in particular, whether we should effectively take over the company and only afterwards determine and compensate any damages. I know that President Vučić opposes nationalization, as do many of us within and outside the Serbian government, and we have stated this repeatedly," Jedović said.

She added that a special government meeting will be held on November 16 at 11:00, with the president in attendance.

"We spent the whole night in consultations, practically without sleep — both with President Vučić and with certain members of the government… I can see what President Vučić is struggling with, and these are very difficult and highly responsible political decisions," she said.

Jedović warned that Serbia may soon face some of the most difficult decisions in its history.

"I hope our Russian friends will understand the gravity of the situation and help us overcome it, because we have found ourselves in this position through no fault of our own. There is a political war underway, a geopolitical struggle, and we, as a small country, are being asked to pay a high price," the minister said.

• NIS, Serbia’s second-largest company, has faced the threat of U.S. sanctions since early 2025. Former U.S. President Joe Biden imposed sanctions against the company, with a grace period for Gazprom Neft’s complete withdrawal from the shareholder structure.
• At the time the sanctions were announced, Gazprom Neft held a 50% stake. On February 26, the company announced that its share had been reduced to 44.85%. Meanwhile, Gazprom increased its share from 6.15% to 11.30%, later transferring these shares in September to another Gazprom Group company — the St. Petersburg–based joint-stock company Intelligence. Serbia owns 29.87% of NIS, with the remainder held by minority shareholders.
• These changes were not sufficient, and in early October the U.S. sanctions against NIS came into force.