The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said yesterday that there are three possible solutions for the situation in which the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) has found itself, as it is under United States (U.S.) sanctions.
As the first solution, he mentioned the possibility that the U.S. grants a licence to NIS or lifts the sanctions against Russian companies, which he thinks is unlikely to happen.
“It is more likely that the Russians will sell their shares to another company, and I hope they will do that. Option number three is that we will have to act as a state, and if that happens, it will happen in 37 days, meaning January 15th is the deadline,” Vucic said.
He stressed that everyone must understand that January 15th is the final deadline, and that there will be no extension, as well as that the fuel supply for citizens and Serbia’s economy must not be jeopardized.
He said that Serbia is also facing secondary sanctions.
“Every morning when I get up, the first thing I check is whether there are any updates regarding secondary sanctions against our banks and commercial banks. The monetary and fiscal system in Serbia is the best in the region. We are the only ones in the region with an investment rating. We are one step away from receiving it from both Moody’s and Fitch, and now everything is threatened because of the situation with NIS,” Vucic said.
He stated that Serbia will not nationalize NIS if state intervention becomes the last option for the further operation of that company, but will pay for the Russian share.
“I am sure that the Russians understand everything very well, and that if the sanctions are not lifted, they will have to sell the company,” Vucic said, adding that he cannot imagine a situation in which petrol stations in Serbia would be empty.
