A few days before the change of government, the United States, the most powerful country in the world, imposed sanctions on NIS. Serbia did not contribute in any way to the introduction of such sanctions, we did not in any way interfere in major conflicts, in the global conflict, we hid from everything, we did not stand in the shadow of anyone, said the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, regarding the fact that United States of America (USA) they introduced sanctions Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS).
He pointed out that it is "about the heaviest sanctions affecting a company in Serbia".
"The complete exit of Russian capital and interests from NIS is sought. The company will be able to operate as usual, but we have to start with the ownership transformation plan immediately and it has to be approved by the United States. We will have 45 days for all operations, ending on February 25. Until then, we have to finish everything with Russia, we only have time until March 12 to extend the financial transaction, but that must also be approved by the US Ministry of Finance," said the President of Serbia.
He emphasized that Serbia will react responsibly and seriously and that it will not rush to make wrong decisions.
"There is no need, just as we will not do it, to react in a panic." We will react responsibly, seriously, reassuringly and nowhere, even though we will be in a hurry, because we know how short our deadlines are, we will not hesitate to make wrong decisions. We will ask the upcoming administration to consider this decision one more time and see if we can get some mitigating circumstances regarding these decisions that have already been made," said Vučić.
Previously, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury added NIS to the list of sanctions directed against Gazpromneft and Russia.
Concrete decisions were sent to the state leadership of Serbia.
The United States has imposed some of the toughest sanctions on the Russian oil industry to date.
Sanctions have been imposed against 180 ships, dozens of traders, two major oil companies and some executives in the Russian oil sector, the document states.
The decision states that the sanctions were imposed under Executive Order 14024, which refers to the "blocking of assets with respect to certain harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation."
Also, sanctions were introduced under Executive Order 13662 — "Blocking of assets of additional persons contributing to the situation in Ukraine."
The decision states that sanctions were imposed on NIS due to its connection with Gazpromneft.
The largest shareholder of NIS is Gazpromneft, which holds 50 percent of the company's ownership, while 6,15 percent belongs to its parent company Gazprom.
For Serbia, the main problems are oil supply and problems with the Refinery and Petrochemicals and other giants, which will directly affect our economy.
Serbia formed two teams for negotiations, as well as the Coordinating Body for Oil Supply.
