BELGRADE – The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) announced today that a special license by the US Treasury Department, which would allow the company to operate smoothly, has not been extended, but for now it has secured sufficient oil supplies and will continue to work on overcoming the situation caused by the sanctions.
According to NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia, sufficient oil supplies for processing are provided for the time being, and gas stations are neatly supplied with all types of petroleum products.
NIS stressed that regular supply of oil products to the domestic market as well as social stability of employees are secured.
“NIS has provided sufficient oil supplies for processing at the moment, while gas stations are duly supplied with all types of petroleum products”, it was stated.
The USA has placed NIS on the sanctions list on 10 January, due to the so-called “secondary risk”, i.e. majority Russian ownership. The sanctions are aimed, among other things, at preventing the financing of the war in Ukraine, through money coming from Russian energy companies.
In the meantime, the ownership structure of NIS has been changed several times, but it is still majority in the hands of Russian companies. Gazprom withdrew from the ownership of NIS in September, and one of the significant owners became another company managed by Gazprom-the St. Petersburg – based company Intelligence.
The joint-stock company Intelligence now owns 11.3 percent stake in the company, according to data published on the website of the Belgrade Stock Exchange on 21 September.
The largest share in NIS is still held by Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of Gazprom (44.9 percent), while the state of Serbia has 29.9 percent of the share. The rest are small shareholders.
In September 2025, NIS submitted an amended request to the US authorities for removal from the sanctions list. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on 7 October that the Serbian authorities will discuss the issue of sanctions on NIS with Russia.
“The United States has managed to imposed their will on others, and Europe will support the sanctions”, Vučić noted.
