"From what I hear, they are looking for a partner, and I am happy that they have taken the situation seriously. This is important for Serbia and its future, and we have to agree with whatever their agreement is with a third party and the Americans," Vucic said in a televised interview with Belgrade-based Informer TV.
NIS, Serbia's sole refiner, is 44.85% owned by Gazprom Neft. Serbia's government has 29.87% ownership, and St. Petersburg-based Intelligence, a company ultimately controlled by Gazprom, has 11.3%. The remainder belongs to a number of minority shareholders. In January, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on NIS over its Russian ownership, as part of a wider package of restrictions targeting Russia's energy sector over the Ukraine war. After a string of delays, the sanctions on NIS took effect on October 8.
NIS' only crude import route, the Janaf pipeline through Croatia, has been blocked by the sanctions. Serbia's energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said last week that NIS's refinery in Pancevo - Serbia's only - will continue operating until November 25.
Vucic also told Informer TV on Wednesday that he will have important meetings with the EU and Russian officials to discuss the NIS issue in the next two days.
Apart from operating the Pancevo refinery, which has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons, NIS also runs the largest fuel retail network in Serbia, with 327 petrol stations. The Serbian company is also active in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Romania and employs about 14,000 people.
(SeeNews, November 5, 2025)