Serbia’s oil company NIS initiated the sale of its regional subsidiaries two years ago, but the process has been halted due to U.S. sanctions, reports Danas.
NIS owns subsidiaries in three neighboring countries—Romania, Bulgaria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the sanctions were introduced, all NIS subsidiaries in these countries have closed their gas stations, had their accounts frozen, and ceased operations.
In Romania, NIS operates 19 gas stations under the Gazprom (NIS Petrol S.R.L.) brand, and as of October 9, all financial transactions were suspended. Similarly, in Bulgaria, NIS/Gazprom runs 23 gas stations, all of which have been closed, with accounts blocked and fuel deliveries halted. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 42 gas stations operated under NIS Petrol Banja Luka and G-Petrol Sarajevo employed around 500 workers; bank accounts were closed, international payments blocked, and fuel deliveries from the Pančevo refinery stopped for over 10 days.
According to anonymous sources cited by Danas, several serious buyers have expressed interest in acquiring these subsidiaries, and negotiations were reportedly well advanced.
All of NIS’s regional subsidiaries have been operating at a loss: in Romania, the company reported a deficit of €160 million, and in Bulgaria, €90 million. These losses began roughly two years ago when the EU imposed stricter sanctions on the Russian energy sector, including Gazprom, complicating operations in Romania and Bulgaria. The current shutdowns and frozen operations are expected to generate further losses.
Estimates suggest that NIS will incur additional losses of €30–35 million each in Romania and Bulgaria, while losses in Bosnia and Herzegovina could reach €50 million. Combined with previous deficits, NIS could face total regional losses of around €350–360 million.
