Pancevo oil refinery (BetaPhoto/Ministry of Mining and Energy of Republic of Serbia/Emilija Jovanovic)
Serbia has no law with which it could nationalize oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), which has found itself under U.S. sanctions. The law is mentioned as one of potential solutions to the problem, in addition to the U.S.' consent to extend the deadline for the implementation of the sanctions and the Russian side's consent to sell its stake in the company, Forbes reported on Feb. 21.
The magazine points out that since the Law on Nationalization of 1946, there has been no new legal act that would regulate the nationalization procedure and circumstances in which private property could be alienated, unless that property is taken for the construction of a facility of public interest, which is regulated by the Law on Expropriation.
"There are no applicable laws on nationalization in the Republic of Serbia. This especially keeping in mind the fact that a provision of Article 58, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia as lex superior proclaims that the peaceful enjoyment of property and other property rights obtained on the grounds of the law is guaranteed," Restitution Agency Director Strahinja Sekulic told BETA.
According to the legal experts Forbes Srbija talked with, there is no provision in the Law on Expropriation which could be used to legally nationalize a private company.
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