The U.S. Treasury Department has postponed enforcement of sanctions against Serbia’s Russian-controlled sole oil refiner NIS by two months, until June 27, NIS said.
“NIS is grateful to the Government of the Republic of Serbia and all other domestic and foreign institutions that supported the request sent to the U.S. Treasury Department,” the company said in a press release.
This is a third sanctions delay that the U.S. Treasury Department has granted to NIS and the first one to last for two months.
In January, the U.S. imposed sanctions on NIS, which is majority-owned by Russian companies Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, as part of wider measures targeting Russian energy sector. The restrictions were initially set to take effect on February 27 but were later delayed until March 28, and again until April 28. In the meantime, NIS had requested to be removed from the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list.
When first announcing sanctions against NIS in January, the U.S. Treasury cited Gazprom Neft’s control over NIS. At that time, Gazprom Neft held a 50% stake in NIS, while its parent Gazprom had a 6.15% stake. Subsequently, Gazprom Neft transferred a 5.15% stake in NIS to Gazprom, which was not targeted by the sanctions.
Serbia’s government is the second largest shareholder in NIS with 29.87%.
Elsewhere in the region, NIS is present in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Romania.
