Vucic: Russians Are Negotiating with Three Partners on Selling Their Stake in NIS

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic stated that he is aware of three partners with whom the Russians are negotiating the sale of their stake in the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), and that he hopes they will complete the transaction.

20.11.2025. 14:02

Vucic: Russians Are Negotiating with Three Partners on Selling Their Stake in NIS

“I know of three partners they are negotiating with. Whether they will finalize the deal with someone or not, we’ll see. I hope they will, because the sooner they complete that transaction, the better. Everything they asked for, we accepted and signed,” Vucic said in response to a journalist’s question about public comments suggesting that someone else might acquire NIS using Serbia’s money.

“Why would someone else take it with our money? If someone else buys it, they will do so with their own money, not ours. That way, we won’t bear that expense, but it is ultimately Russia’s decision. We cannot even insist on exercising the right of first refusal, which a minority partner normally has, because the Russians will say: ‘Listen, this is not a voluntary sale; this is a forced sale. At least give us the opportunity to sell to whomever we choose.’ Am I unhappy – whether for this reason or that – I won’t comment on whether we have enough money or not. You never have money to throw around; responsible and serious people never have money to waste. Would we have the funds? Yes, we would. But the point is that they are negotiating with someone else,” Vucic said.

At the regional UK–Western Balkans business conference Building Futures in Belgrade, the President said that the British could invest more in key infrastructure projects in Serbia and proposed that one such project be the construction of a high-speed railway toward Tuzla.

“For example, I would like – and I believe you Britons could help us with this – to develop a high-speed rail line. It would run from Belgrade to Ruma, and primarily from Ruma to Bijeljina and Tuzla. This would connect Belgrade not only with Semberija but also with Tuzla, the second-largest city – sharing second and third place with Zenica – in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is of exceptional importance to us. If trains run up to 200 km/h, the Belgrade–Tuzla trip would take an hour and a half, no more. Closer and faster than Tuzla–Sarajevo,” Vucic said.

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