The US may impose sanctions against Serbian oil company NIS, which has Russian shareholders

In the coming days, the United States may impose financial sanctions against the Serbian oil company NIS (Oil Industry of Serbia), a controlling stake in which belongs to Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said.

Vucic explained that this is due to the company's Russian shareholders: 50% of NIS belongs to Gazprom Neft, another 6.15% to Gazprom, and the Serbian state owns 29.87%. He noted that a solution is being considered to reduce the share of Russian firms in the company to less than 50%. However, the president warned that such a move could cause difficulties in relations with Russia, including political and economic complications.

According to Vucic, the UK and the EU are likely to follow the US lead and impose sanctions as well, which would mean that oil supplies through the pipeline from Croatia would be halted.

“We have to see if there is a possibility to reduce the Russian share to 50% and talk to our Russian partners about it,” Vucic said.

According to the Russian media, both the Serbian authorities and the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL are possible contenders for the purchase of NIS shares.