The Serbian government today extended the ban on the export of oil and oil derivatives until May 2, TANYUG reported, BTA reported.
A government statement states that an amendment to the Decision on a temporary ban on the export of oil and oil derivatives was adopted at a government meeting today in order to prevent critical shortages due to the global situation and reduced supply. The decision has been extended until May 2nd to protect the Serbian market from oil shortages.
The decision was initially adopted on March 9th with a ten-day statute of limitations, and was later extended until April 2nd, with Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Dubravka Džedović Handanović indicating that the purpose of this restriction is to protect the domestic market from shortages and price spikes due to global market disruptions.
The Serbian government has adopted a number of measures to alleviate the situation in the country, with the latest step being to reduce fuel excise duties by another 40 percent, after they had previously been reduced by 20 percent.