The sanctions US against oil company and the only refinery of Serbia, NIS began to be implemented today (9.10.2025) in the morning.
The sanctions were submitted because of the ownership status of the oil company. The majority package of NIS shares belongs to Russian companies with Gazprom Neft, which is considered a funder of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions against NIS were decided in January 2025 and were postponed eight times with the expectation that the Serbian State will impose changes in the company’s ownership.
All the efforts made by the President of the Republic Aleksandar Vucic did not bear fruit, as the Russians refuse to leave NIS. The Serbian government has repeatedly stated the intention of redeeming the State the package of shares owned by Russian companies and the answer has always been negative.
In NIS, 44.9% of the shares belong to Gazprom Neft, 11.3% to a subsidiary, Intelligence based in St. Petersburg, and 29.9% in the Serbian State. The rest of the shares belong to small investors.
US sanctions may cause serious problems in the operation of the company, as no financial organization will risk cooperation with a US blacklist company.
The smooth supply of crude oil from Russia is also doubtful, which to date received through the old Yugoslav Janaf pipeline that starts from the port of Rijeka to Croatia and ends in Belgrade. NIS’s management announced that it has taken its steps to deal with the situation.
“NIS has secured sufficient oil reserves for refining at the moment, while gas stations are regularly equipped with all types of petroleum products,” the statement said.
NIS’s share in the fuel market – gasoline and diesel – in Serbia reaches 80%, which concerns the world.
In recent days there has been increased traffic in the gas stations with most drivers filling their car tank.