Serbia's government seeks fourth sanctions waiver from US for NIS oil firm
BELGRADE, June 24 (Reuters) - Serbia's government has asked the United States for a fourth, 180-day sanctions waiver for the Russian-owned Serbian oil company NIS NIIS.BEL, the mining and energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said in a statement.
NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft SIBN.MM and Gazprom GAZP.MM, operates Serbia's only oil refinery.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS.
NIS has so far secured three waivers, with the third one set to expire on June 27. The company asked OFAC for another extension on June 20.
"Additional disruptions in supply chains, combined with possible sanctions against NIS, could jeopardize Serbia's energy security in the worst possible way and ... impact our citizens and ... the entire region," Djedovic Handanovic said.
She said Serbia is facing uncertainties and price hikes on the global oil market due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs and sanctions could jeopardize its supplies of crude.
On March 14, NIS submitted a request to the U.S. Treasury Department for its removal from the sanctions list.
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 owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government owns 29.87%, with small shareholders accounting for the rest.
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.
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