The situation regarding the business operations of the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) is being closely monitored daily, but it is far from simple, as the positions of the American and Russian sides remain highly divergent, stated Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, who chaired a meeting of the Working Group for Monitoring Activities of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday in the Serbian Government.
The minister said that at this moment, “two or three possible scenarios are being considered,” and, alongside that, the situation on the market and prices are being closely tracked to ensure the stability of supply, as stated in the ministry’s release following the meeting. The Serbian government is committed to preventing the negative consequences of the sanctions announced against NIS, she emphasized, noting that this is primarily a political issue that could affect the country’s economy.
She reminded that NIS has officially requested a delay of the sanctions from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a request officially supported by both Serbia and Hungary, given the importance of NIS for oil supply and the regional economy.
“We have received additional clarifications from the U.S. administration, and we continue our discussions with the U.S. Department of the Treasury (OFAC) this week, and we expect to see the next steps from the Russian side,” said Đedović Handanović. The meeting of the Working Group also included Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Minister without portfolio in charge of international economic cooperation and the position of the church in the country and abroad, Nenad Popović, and Dragutin Matanović, a member of the Board of Directors of NIS, along with representatives of the President’s Cabinet, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, and the Ministry of Finance.
