Vucic: Solution for NIS Oil Company Must Be Found Within Seven Days

Oil and gas company NIS (Photo: NIS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Nov. 16 that the solution to the Serbian NIS oil company, for which the U.S. is demanding be divested of Russian ownership before it lifts recently enforced sanctions, must be found in the next seven days.

At an open session of the Serbian government which he participated in, Vucic said the last resort for NIS would be nationalization if no other solution was found. Vucic explained that the Russians were discussing NIS changing hands with Asian and European partners, and that Serbia would accept any agreement.

"If the Russians don't come to an agreement with their partners on a price, Serbia will offer a better price for the Russian part of NIS," he said, stressing that he did not want to see the confiscation or seizure of anyone's property.

Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Nov. 15 that the U.S., which introduced sanctions against NIS due to its majority Russian ownership, had not approved "one day of being able to continue to operate." She told a news conference that approval had been given for negotiations on ownership, but "not for NIS or the refinery to continue operating."