Serbia Obtains Sanctions Waiver for Russian-Owned Oil Firm
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has renewed a sanctions waiver for Serbia’s majority-Russian-owned oil company NIS, an entity designated in January for its ties to Russian oil firm Gazprom Neft. At the request of Serbia's Mining and Energy agency, the U.S. now has extended a waiver for the designation five times since January, Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said July 27, according to an unofficial translation. NIS operates the country's only oil refinery.
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"At this point, it was not possible to obtain a longer delay," the minister said. "This is a matter of global politics and relations and negotiations between world powers, which are very complex. Serbia has managed to avoid becoming collateral damage through the delay so far, but the situation is still very uncertain. We will continue to defend the interests of our citizens and the economy."
Serbia is trying to "reduce uncertainty in NIS's operations" by naming new government-appointed members to the company's board of directors," Handanovic said. She also said Serbia is hoping to elect two "independent" members to the board "in order to meet the requirements of OFAC" about the "management of the company."
Handanovic added that Serbia's goal is to "remove NIS from the OFAC sanctions list. For this, progress in the dialogue between the US and Russia is the most important."