Serbia and Russia to ask the US to temporarily lift sanctions against NIS

President of Serbia Alexander Vucic said that Belgrade, together with representatives of Russia, plans to send a joint letter to The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the US government.

Reason for applying

According to Vucic, the letter will ask to temporarily release NIS from sanctions («Oil Industry of Serbia»), which is controlled by the Russian «Gazprom Neft». The President stressed that this is necessary to complete the process of management change in the company.

«We will ask the United States for a short-term exemption from sanctions, possibly for a few months, to complete the change of leadership at NIS,» Vucic said.

Context and motives

Vucic's decision, according to Serbian media reports, was partly inspired by yesterday's diplomatic success of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who secured easing of sanctions against a number of companies linked to the Russian energy sector.

Analysts believe that Belgrade is trying to preserve balance between the EU, the US and Moscow, while avoiding economic consequences for its own energy sector.

Reference.

Company. NIS is one of the key players in the Serbian energy market. Over 50% of its shares are owned by Russian Gazprom Neft«, and another part is controlled by the Serbian government. After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the NIS came under OFAC sanctions control, This complicated its financial and trading operations.