Vucic: US sanctions against NIS will enter into force on October 1

2025-09-26 07:28:38, Kosova & Bota CNA

Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? announced on September 25 that the United States has postponed sanctions against the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) for just four more days, so they will enter into force on October 1.

The US added Serbia's largest oil company to its sanctions list on January 10, due to the so-called "collateral risk", as its majority ownership is Russian.

The US sanctions were imposed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Sanctions against NIS have so far been postponed six times, the last time being until September 26.

Authorities in Serbia have meanwhile held negotiations with the Russian and American sides.

"We have been extremely correct towards our Russian partners and American partners, and we will try to continue to be correct, but people should know that we will have to pay an extremely high price," Vucic said during a statement to Serbian media in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly.

The Serbian leader stressed that Serbia is "collateral damage in relations between the Americans and the Russians."

"Of course, we are facing a difficult time and a harsh winter," he said.

Meanwhile, the ownership structure of NIS has changed several times. The Russian company Gazprom withdrew from NIS ownership in September, and one of the significant owners became another Gazprom-managed company, the St. Petersburg-based Intellizhens company.

The joint-stock company Intelid?ens became the owner of 11.3% of the company's shares, according to data published on the Belgrade Stock Exchange website on September 21.

The majority of NIS ownership continues to be held by Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of Gazprom (44.9%), while the Serbian state holds 29.9%. The rest belongs to small shareholders.

In January, Vu?i? dismissed the possibility of nationalizing NIS, adding that Serbia "will not participate in the confiscation of Russian property."

NIS representatives announced in August that the company had ended the first half of the year with a loss of 30 million euros, among other things due to US sanctions, but also due to the drop in oil prices on the world market.

NIS is also the only company in Serbia engaged in oil exploration, production and refining and natural gas production. It was largely state-owned until 2008, when Serbia sold 51% of NIS shares to Gazprom Neft for 400 million euros./REL