Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on Google
Serbia's NIS oil firm, owned by Gazprom, secures a US sanctions waiver until June 27, ensuring continued crude supply amid geopolitical tensions.
BELGRADE (Reuters) -Serbian oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije, which is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, secured a third sanctions waiver from the United States, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday.
NIS operates a single oil refinery in Serbia with annual capacity of 4.8 million tons. It covers most of the Balkan country's needs and the introduction of sanctions would cut its crude supply.
"Serbia has managed to secure a new sanctions waiver, this time for two months, until June 27," Vucic wrote on Instagram.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS.
Serbia's government and NIS have so far secured two one-month waivers from OFAC to try to find a solution with the Russian companies, with the second one set to expire on April 28.
This is the first two-month sanctions reprieve so far.
"Thank you to our American partners and their understanding for Serbia's position," Vucic said.
On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred stakes of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions.
Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government holds a 29.87% stake, with small shareholders accounting for the rest.
NIS imports about 80% of its needs through Croatia's pipeline operator Janaf. The remainder is covered by its own crude oil production in Serbia.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by William Mallard and Susan Fenton)
The main topic is Serbia's NIS oil firm securing a new US sanctions waiver.
NIS is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom.
The waiver is crucial to ensure Serbia's crude oil supply is not disrupted.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
