Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic-Handanovic told Serbian state broadcaster RTS that Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov and Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin will arrive in Belgrade. On Monday, they will hold talks with President Aleksandar Vucic regarding US sanctions against the Serbian oil company NIS, which has majority Russian ownership.
The US sanctions against NIS came into effect on Thursday.
NIS is the only company in Serbia for the exploration, production and refining of oil and gas. The state owns 29.9% of the shares, while Gazprom Neft remains the main owner with 44.9%. At the end of September, the St. Petersburg-based company Intelligence, affiliated with Gazprom, acquired 11.3% of the shares of the parent company. Sanctions against NIS were imposed on January 10 due to the "secondary risk" of majority Russian ownership, but their implementation was postponed eight times - most recently until October 8.
President Vucic said that the state would "take measures" in connection with the sanctions against NIS, regional television channel En1 reported.
In an interview with Informer TV he added: “We have always been honest not only with the Russian side, but also with the European side, and always in accordance with international law. I want to inform citizens that we will take action.“
Vucic specified that on Monday Serbia would present the Russian side with “new ideas“ regarding sanctions against NIS.