President Vucic Says the US is Imposing Sanctions on the Serbian Oil Industry Due to Russian Ownership

"I must say, one of the hardest pieces of news in the last few years, it has been confirmed to us. We have not received the official document yet, but the news has been confirmed, and our service confirmed it with sister services. So, the United States will impose full, comprehensive sanctions on the Serbian Oil Industry in a few days because of Russian ownership," said Vucic.

He added that these sanctions from the U.S. Treasury would be joined by the British.

"But this means that everyone will stop working with the company because when a company is under U.S. sanctions, no one wants to do business with it. You could see that in Republika Srpska. Now, since we haven’t received the papers yet, I don't know how much time they will give us. We expected this from the EU a year and a half ago, but it didn’t come from the EU, now it’s coming from America, which is probably the toughest sanctions. From that moment on, the Janaf oil pipeline in Croatia tells us - we will not let oil flow through the Adriatic oil pipeline. Of course, this creates problems with our Russian friends on all fronts, from political issues to everything else," Vucic said.

He emphasized that he cannot say what the background of the decision is, and when asked whether this applies to other Russian companies, Vucic said he didn’t know, adding that NIS is the only large company with majority Russian ownership.

"For us, this is a tough situation, but for them, it’s a geopolitical issue they are doing because of Russia. I don’t think they are doing it because of Serbia, but because of Russia," Vucic said.

"I'm not ready, at this moment, to discuss the potential imposition of sanctions on Moscow"

The President of Serbia also said that, at this moment, he is not ready to discuss the potential imposition of sanctions by Serbia on Moscow.

"Do you think anyone would want us to impose sanctions on Moscow and then think about this? I have no evidence for that. I do not exclude the possibility, but I have no proof that it is like that. But, as the President of Serbia and as someone who chairs the National Security Council, I am not ready at this moment to even discuss potential sanctions against Moscow," he said.

When asked about the possible consequences of the U.S. sanctions on NIS for Serbia, the president mentioned they would be severe if no action is taken.

"When we see the document, we will first talk to the Americans, then we will talk to the Russians. We must solve the problem. We cannot leave Serbia without oil in the middle of winter, but at the same time, we will try to preserve our friendly relations with the Russians and ensure we don’t spoil relations with those imposing sanctions," Vucic stated.

He said that Serbia has been informed that the decision should come into effect on January 1

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