site.btaSerbian Oil Company NIS' Final US Sanctions Waiver Expires on October 1

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS, a Serbian oil company majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft) and issued a temporary waiver that will be valid until October 1 this year, NIS announced on its website on Friday.

The sixth consecutive postponement of US sanctions will expire on September 26, and with the temporary licence, the company has been granted only five additional days.

On Thursday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that the US authorities would not grant Serbia's seventh request for a postponement of sanctions and that they would come into force on the first day of next month.

Washington initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS.

NIS was placed on the US sanctions list in early January this year due to its connection with the Russian company Gazprom Neft, which is under Western sanctions because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, NIS has received a postponement of sanctions from the US authorities six times in a row.

Gazprom has effectively withdrawn from ownership of Serbia's oil company NIS after its shares were taken over by the Russian company Intelligence, data from the Belgrade Stock Exchange showed a few days ago.

"In these conditions, the company is trying to adapt its activities to the new circumstances, with the priorities remaining the preservation of the stability of the domestic market for oil derivatives and the preservation of the social stability of employees," the statement said.

The company has secured sufficient supplies of crude oil for processing, as well as sufficient quantities of petroleum products to supply the market at this time. NIS claimed that the company's petrol stations are supplied with all types of petroleum products and are ready to meet consumer needs.

NIS stated that it complies with the laws of Serbia and other countries in whose markets it operates, and that its activities have not contributed to the imposition of sanctions that threaten the company's operations and the social stability of more than 13,000 employees.

NIS also continues to cooperate with the US Treasury Department on the request to be removed from the sanctions list and to extend its licence, as well as cooperating with shareholders to resolve the new situation, the statement said.

On March 14, NIS submitted a request to the US Treasury Department to remove the company from the restrictive list, which the company considers to be a long and complex process.