Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on January 19, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 19, 2026
Serbia's NIS secures crude supply to operate through February under a US sanctions waiver, with ongoing negotiations for Russian stake divestment.
BELGRADE, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Serbia's majority Russian-owned oil company NIS said on Monday it had secured enough crude to keep its refinery operating through February after resuming imports under a new U.S. sanctions waiver.
In a statement on its web site, NIS confirmed a statement by energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic and said it has restarted activities in its Pancevo refinery, Serbia's only. The first quantities of diesel should be on the market on January 27, it said.
"Bearing in mind the imported quantities of crude oil, as well as crude oil produced in domestic oil fields, the refinery is planned to work throughout February," it said.
"Further work will be coordinated with decisions on enabling the company's operational activities."
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on NIS - in which Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom hold majority stakes - in October as part of broader measures targeting Russia's energy sector over Moscow's war in Ukraine.
NIS was granted a sanctions reprieve by OFAC until January 23, allowing it to import crude oil through Croatia’s JANAF pipeline.
It has until late March to negotiate the divestment of the stakes held by the Russian firms and it is in the midst of negotiating a sale to Hungary’s MOL.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday that he expects that the initial deal for the sale will be approved by OFAC in the coming days.
Gazprom and Gazprom Neft own 11.3% and 44.9% of NIS, respectively. The Serbian government has a 29.9% stake.
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac, Editing by Louise Heavens)
Crude oil is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum product composed of hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. It is used to produce fuels and other products.
A refinery is an industrial facility where crude oil is processed and transformed into usable products like gasoline, diesel, and other petrochemicals.
Gazprom Neft is a major Russian oil company and a subsidiary of Gazprom, involved in the extraction, production, and sale of oil and gas.
MOL is a Hungarian multinational oil and gas company, engaged in the exploration, production, and distribution of oil and gas products.
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