Serbia has a week to resolve NIS refinery crisis, President Vucic says

BELGRADE (Reuters) -Serbia has seven days to decide on steps to safeguard fuel supplies from the Serbian refinery of Russian-owned NIS without nationalisation, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday.

Washington is seeking complete Russian divestment from NIS, which operates Serbia's only refinery, and on Saturday gave the company's owners three months to find a buyer. 

Banks have frozen NIS transactions and officials project that the Serbian refinery only has enough crude oil to operate until November 25. 

"The decision ... must be made over the next seven days; the refinery must operate," Vucic said on Sunday during a government session aired live on state television.

Vucic said that Serbia wants to avoid nationalising Russian assets and is ready to make an above-market offer for the company should Russian negotiations with unnamed Asian and European partners fail.

Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom hold a combined controlling stake of 56% in NIS and have notified the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of their willingness to transfer control to a third party.

Finance Minister Sinisa Mali warned on Sunday that prolonged sanctions on NIS could undermine Serbia's economic growth, credit ratings and foreign investment.

Gazprom Neft controls 44.9% of NIS and Gazprom 11.3% while Serbia owns 29.9%, with the rest held by small shareholders.

(Reporting by Aleksandar VasovicWriting by Angeliki KoutantouEditing by David Goodman)