Serbia says U.S.-sanctioned NIS oil refinery idle until Dec. 2, seeks sanctions waiver
Serbia's U.S.-sanctioned and Russian-owned NIS oil refinery will continue to operate in so-called idle mode until December 2 as the country expects a sanctions reprieve, energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Friday.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on NIS in October, as part of wider sanctions against Russia's energy industry, after a series of waivers since January.
On Tuesday, NIS said that due to a lack of crude oil from Croatia's Janaf pipeline, its refinery—the only one in the country—will switch to the so-called hot standby that would allow it a quicker restart once imports became available.
Djedovic Handanovic said the refinery, which has an annual capacity of 4.8 MMtpy, would restart as soon as NIS receives a sanctions waiver from the United States. It requested one on November 19 for the duration of negotiations for the sale of the Russian stake in NIS.
"If the response (from the U.S.) is positive, it (refinery) will be able to produce first quantities of diesel ... by December 15," she said in Belgrade after meeting representatives of fuel retailers.
The Balkan country has enough short-term fuel reserves, but a complete shutdown of the refinery may hurt its economy. Oil refining experts said hot standby mode should not be prolonged for more than a few days.
Most of Serbia's fuel is currently imported from neighboring Hungary via the river Danube, as well as by train and truck. Hungary gets most of its fuel from Russia and the U.S. gave Budapest an exemption from sanctions this month so it could continue to import it.
On Wednesday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungarian oil firm MOL had doubled deliveries to Serbia in November and would deliver two and a half times more crude oil and fuel in December.
On Tuesday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Russian owners of NIS, who together hold more than 50%, have 50 days to sell their stake or the government would take over operations and offer them a buyout. Hungary could buy a stake, a top Hungarian official said on Thursday.
Comments