Kompas: NIS pays February salaries in advance

Management Oil Industry of Serbia announced to the employees that on February 19, they will receive the February salary in advance, he learns Compass info.

The reason lies in the fear that there will not be enough money to pay regular salaries due to the banks' announcement that as part of the American sanction introduced to NIS to suspend all international payments on February 28.

Time is ticking for NIS: What are you waiting for?

NIS employees were notified this morning that their February salary will be paid in advance. Unofficially, it is being considered that the salary for March will be paid in advance by the end of this month, Kompas has learned.

What happens?

"Given that we are actively working to find a final solution regarding the US sanctions against our company, it was decided that the advance payment of February wages will be realized by February 19." Our company made this decision in order to ensure the safety and protection and maintain the financial and social stability of the employees. The salary will be increased for past work, hot meal and holiday pay, and the data that is known at the time of calculation will be used in the calculation of the salary", it is stated, among other things, in the email informing the employees, which Kompas-info had access to.

The payment of salaries to employees in advance has been considered since December, when the American sanctions were announced, but confirmation was awaited when exactly the company's operations on the international market would be threatened.

What's the problem?

NIS's biggest problem is paying for oil and equipment on the international market, which will be impossible for the company from February 28, writes Kompas-info.

NIS in Serbia continues to operate smoothly, but as the only company that has an oil refinery in the country, this could threaten the supply of the entire domestic market.

What is the solution?

According to Kompas, NIS and the Government of Serbia are unofficially considering several solutions, all of which boil down to finding an intermediary for the purchase of oil and equipment on the international market.

One solution is for one of the foreign oil companies (MOL is unofficially mentioned) to buy oil for NIS on the world market, which they will resell to this company in Serbia, and in return receive a more favorable price when the raw material is processed into oil derivatives in NIS refineries. It is still unknown whether the Americans would turn a blind eye to such a transaction that would bypass sanctions against the Russian company.

Another solution is for the Government of Serbia to form an Agency for Oil Derivatives that would deal with the purchase and import of oil, and then resell it in Serbia to all interested parties, including NIS. And for this solution, there is a fear that the USA would put pressure on the state of Serbia not to do business with a Russian company.

The third solution is to form a private company that would buy and import crude oil, and then resell it to NIS in Serbia. It is not known whether this solution would pass under the American radar either, but it is believed that one of the three offered could be acceptable.

And what do the Russians say?

According to Kompas' unofficial information, the Russian side is willing to sell six percent of its share in NIS to the Republic of Serbia, which would reduce the Russian share to 49 percent. The Kremlin allegedly told the Government of Serbia through official channels that this is the only concession that the Russian side can agree to and that they are not interested in the sale of NIS at the moment.

Unofficially, the possibility of nationalizing NIS was also mentioned in the public, but the Government of Serbia concluded that such a solution would put the country in a very unfavorable position ahead of the upcoming negotiations on a new contract on the purchase of gas from Russia.

What do NIS employees say?

NIS employees are waiting for answers from the management whether they will receive regular salaries after February 28. The problem is that even the management cannot say anything with certainty on that question, which is why it was decided to pay the salary in advance and thus ensure internal peace in the company.

There are also unofficial announcements that the Government of Serbia will find a way to pay the salaries of NIS employees from the budget, if the company really gets into trouble due to the suspension of business with banks, but no one has yet officially declared this, reports Kompas.