(Reuters) -The United States has postponed sanctions against the Russian-owned Serbian oil company NIS for a fourth time, Tanjug news agency reported on Friday. NIS has so far secured three waivers,
US Delays Sanctions on Serbia's NIS Oil Company for Fourth Time
BELGRADE (Reuters) -The United States has postponed sanctions against the Russian-owned Serbian oil company NIS for a fourth time until July 29, the country's mining and energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Friday.
NIS has so far secured three reprieves, the last of which was due to expire later on Friday.
"Sanctions have been formally postponed ... overnight we have received written confirmations ... after a hard and tiring diplomatic struggle," Djedovic Handanovic told reporters.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS.
The United States Department of Treasury did not reply to a Reuters inquiry about the latest sanctions reprieve.
NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, operates Serbia's only oil refinery in the town of Pancevo, just outside the capital, Belgrade. The facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs.
Sanctions could jeopardise its supplies of crude.
"This (sanctions reprieve) means that the NIS will be able to do business, to work, and to supply the market," Djedovic Handanovic said.
On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred a stake of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions.
Gazprom Neft now owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government owns 29.87%, with the remaining shares held by small shareholders.
NIS imports about 80% of its oil needs through Croatia's pipeline operator Janaf. The remainder is covered by its own crude oil production in Serbia.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Alex Richardson, Joe Bavier and David Evans)
