Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković commented last night on the new sanctions regime targeting Russian legal entities and individuals, including the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS). He emphasized that Croatia is closely monitoring the situation and stressed the importance of Serbia’s economic and energy stability. Plenković highlighted that the Croatian government has been in continuous communication with U.S. authorities regarding this matter for several weeks, according to Indeks.hr.
Plenković explained that the new sanctions package, which particularly affects NIS (co-owned by Gazprom Neft), allows a 45-day transition period for Serbian authorities to address ownership issues. He stated, “It is important for us that this sanctions package gives the Serbian authorities 45 days to resolve the ownership issue during this transition period.”
He also reminded that 95 percent of oil transported to Serbia flows through the Adriatic Pipeline (Janaf), underscoring its significance for Serbia’s energy and economic security. “It is in Croatia’s interest that Serbia uses these 45 days to resolve the ownership issue. We want Janaf to continue supplying oil to Serbia through our pipelines via Omišalj, as we seek stability in both the economic and energy sectors for our neighboring country. The Serbian authorities are aware of this, and I am sharing this for the benefit of the citizens,” Plenković added.
The Prime Minister also mentioned the potential secondary effects of the sanctions regime on Janaf, noting that steps will be taken to ensure Janaf’s operations remain unaffected. “On that front, we will ensure that Janaf’s operations are not in any way threatened,” he concluded, expressing confidence that the Serbian government would have enough time to resolve the matter.
Earlier yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added NIS to the sanctions list, along with Gazprom Neft and other Russian entities. The new restrictions on the Russian energy sector mandate that all financial transactions with Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftgaz be completed by February 27.
The U.K. also joined the U.S. Treasury in imposing sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftgaz.
In response to the U.S. sanctions on NIS, the company stated that it would “carefully consider all the details related to the published information and analyze all the implications for the company’s operations.”
