{"id":3352,"date":"2025-11-25T21:14:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3352"},"modified":"2025-11-25T21:14:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:14:02","slug":"serbias-vucic-warns-oil-refinery-faces-shutdown-as-us-sanctions-bite-energy-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3352","title":{"rendered":"Serbia\u2019s Vucic warns oil refinery faces shutdown as US sanctions bite | Energy News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Pancevo, the country\u2019s only oil refinery, now on \u2018hot standby\u2019 as Vucic faces tricky prospect of seizing Russian asset.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 25 Nov 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">25 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has warned that the country\u2019s only oil refinery will shut down in four days if the United States does not lift sanctions that were imposed over its majority Russian ownership in connection with the Ukraine war.<\/p>\n<p>Vucic said on Tuesday that he would give Russia\u2019s Gazprom and Gazprom Neft, which together own 56.2 percent of the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) oil company, 50 days to sell their stake or the\u00a0Serbian state would take over operations and make an offer to buy them out.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>For Vucic, who has close ties to Moscow, the option of seizing a Russian asset may be unpalatable, but he said that his country had been left in an \u201cincreasingly difficult position\u201d with \u201cno easy solutions\u201d as Washington and the Kremlin clashed.<\/p>\n<p>The US sanctions, which hit NIS in October, have cut off crude supply to the Pancevo refinery, the only oil refining facility in the country. \u201cIt has not been shut down yet, but it is already running at a reduced level compared to normal,\u201d said Vucic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSerbia is facing major problems \u2026 When you impose sanctions against Russia and its companies, they end up hitting our country,\u201d he said, adding that the US sanctions may end up affecting supply lines and electricity production in the middle of winter.<\/p>\n<p>The Balkan country does have enough fuel reserves in the short term, but a total shutdown of its only refinery will halt production of petrol, diesel and jet fuel and may hurt the country\u2019s economy, Vucic said.<\/p>\n<p>NIS said in a statement that it began preparations for a shutdown of its Serbian refinery by placing it on a so-called hot standby that would allow a restart once crude oil becomes available.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNIS continues to supply the domestic market with petroleum products without interruption, thanks to previously secured stocks,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>The US Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Russia\u2019s oil sector in January \u2013 including NIS, which was granted repeated waivers before the sanctions finally came into effect in October.<\/p>\n<p>After sanctions hit, banks stopped processing NIS payments, and Croatia\u2019s JANAF pipeline halted crude deliveries to the refinery, forcing the Balkan country to look for alternative supplies.<\/p>\n<p>The Serbian central bank also said in a statement that it would stop all payment transactions for NIS if the company\u2019s operating licence were not extended.<\/p>\n<p>Washington is seeking complete Russian divestment from NIS, and on November 1,5 it gave the company\u2019s owners until February 13 to find a buyer for the Russian stake.<\/p>\n<p>Gazprom Neft holds 44.9 percent of NIS and Gazprom 11.3 percent of NIS, according to news agency Reuters.\u00a0Serbia\u00a0owns 29.9 percent, with the rest held by small shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>Oil company Gazprom Neft is a subsidiary of energy giant Gazprom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pancevo, the country\u2019s only oil refinery, now on \u2018hot standby\u2019 as Vucic faces tricky prospect of seizing Russian asset. Published On 25 Nov 202525 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has warned that the country\u2019s only oil refinery will shut down in four days if the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}