US declines to renew license for Serbia’s Oil Industry, minister raises possibility of nationalisation

The minister said that some of the most difficult decisions “in our history” may lie ahead, with more details expected after Thursday’s special session of the Serbian government, which President Aleksandar Vucic will also attend.

Speaking from the Serbian government building, Djedovic Handanovic said that “bad news” and a “serious message concerning NIS” arrived overnight from Washington. NIS has been under US sanctions for more than a month because its majority owner is Russia’s Gazprom.

“On the request submitted by NIS lawyers to the US government, offering an agreement on changes to the company’s management structure, the US administration, for the first time, clearly and unambiguously stated, in writing, that it wants a complete change in ownership of the Russian shareholders, meaning it demands the removal of Russian ownership from NIS,” the minister explained.

According to her, Washington also made clear that there must be no attempts to conceal continued involvement of Russian partners, Gazprom, or the Russian government. While Serbia received approval to negotiate over ownership until February 13, it did not receive approval for NIS or the Pancevo refinery to continue operating, Djedovic Handanovic said.

The minister stressed that Serbia now faces difficult choice - whether to take over the company and then determine and provide compensation for damages.

“I know that President Vucic is against nationalisation, as are many of us inside and outside the government, and we have repeated that many times. Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. an extraordinary government session will be held with the president present. What I can tell you is that we will not allow our country to be put at risk, and that the coming days may bring some of the hardest decisions in our history,” she announced.

She expressed hope that “our Russian friends will understand the gravity of the situation and help us overcome it.”