BELGRADE, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Serbia's majority Russian-owned oil company NIS said on Monday it had secured enough crude to keep its refinery operating through February after resuming imports under a
Serbia's NIS Secures Crude Supply to Operate Through February
NIS Crude Supply and Operational Plans
BELGRADE, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Serbia's majority Russian-owned oil company NIS said on Monday it had secured enough crude to keep its refinery operating through February after resuming imports under a new U.S. sanctions waiver.
Sanctions and Import Activities
In a statement on its web site, NIS confirmed a statement by energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic and said it has restarted activities in its Pancevo refinery, Serbia's only. The first quantities of diesel should be on the market on January 27, it said.
Negotiations for Stake Sale
"Bearing in mind the imported quantities of crude oil, as well as crude oil produced in domestic oil fields, the refinery is planned to work throughout February," it said.
"Further work will be coordinated with decisions on enabling the company's operational activities."
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on NIS - in which Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom hold majority stakes - in October as part of broader measures targeting Russia's energy sector over Moscow's war in Ukraine.
NIS was granted a sanctions reprieve by OFAC until January 23, allowing it to import crude oil through Croatia’s JANAF pipeline.
It has until late March to negotiate the divestment of the stakes held by the Russian firms and it is in the midst of negotiating a sale to Hungary’s MOL.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday that he expects that the initial deal for the sale will be approved by OFAC in the coming days.
Gazprom and Gazprom Neft own 11.3% and 44.9% of NIS, respectively. The Serbian government has a 29.9% stake.
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac, Editing by Louise Heavens)
