Financial Sanctions Against Serbia's NIS Oil Company

BELGRADE (Reuters) – The United States is set to impose financial sanctions on Serbia's oil company NIS, which is majority owned by Russia's Gazprom.

President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Friday, "We got confirmation that in the next few days, the U.S. will introduce sanctions against NIS because of Russian ownership," during an interview with Informer TV.

He indicated that the UK and European Union are likely to follow suit, resulting in a halt to oil shipments via a pipeline from Croatia. "We are still waiting to get an official paper with details," Vucic added.

The U.S. Treasury Department did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Despite condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations and other international platforms, Serbia has been reluctant to impose sanctions under Western pressure due to its dependence on Russian gas.

Gazprom Neft owns 50% and Gazprom holds 6.15% of NIS, while the Serbian government possesses 29.87%, and the remainder is held by small shareholders. "We will have to look if there is a possibility to reduce Russian ownership below 50% and to talk with Russian partners about it," Vucic mentioned.