Vucic: US to impose sanctions on NIS on October 1 – latest delay of only four days

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the United States has probably postponed the imposition of sanctions against Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) for the last time, and only for four days. This means that the sanctions will be imposed on October 1, Vucic told Serbian media in New York.

"As I announced yesterday, the Americans have extended the postponement of sanctions for only four days – from September 27 to October 1. That is, starting October 1, sanctions against NIS will be imposed," Vucic was quoted as saying by the Serbian magazine Nedeljenik.

Sanctions against NIS were imposed by the previous Joe Biden administration due to the fact that the company is owned by Russian shareholders.

According to Vucic, Serbia is a "collateral victim" in this situation, as the Russians have been the majority partners of NIS for many years.

"We have been extremely correct with both our Russian and American partners. We will try to remain correct in the future, but people should understand that we will pay an extremely high price. No bank will want to cooperate, and we will have problems with paying salaries. But let's see, let's wait – maybe some miracle will happen before October 1," Vucic said.

NIS, Serbia's second-largest company, has been under the constant threat of US sanctions since early 2025. The previous US President Joe Biden imposed sanctions on NIS with a delay until Gazprom Neft fully withdraws from the shareholding.

At the time of the sanctions, Gazprom Neft's share was 50%, but on February 26, it announced that it had been reduced to 44.85%. At the same time, Gazprom increased its stake from 6.15% to 11.30%, but in September it transferred its shares to another Gazprom Group company, the St. Petersburg-based Intelligence Joint Stock Company.

Another 29.87% of NIS shares are owned by Serbia, the rest are held by minority shareholders.

• In July, NIS reported that due to the pending sanctions, it had experienced significant difficulties in Bulgaria and Romania, forcing its management to consider a complete withdrawal from these markets.