Serbia must halt operations at its NIS oil refinery after Washington denied its license, risking the nation's fuel supply, according to Pres
…President Vučić. Serbia failed to secure a United States operating license for its Russian-owned oil refinery, forcing the facility to halt operations and threatening the country's fuel supply, President Aleksandar Vučić said Monday. The United States rejected Serbia's request to continue crude oil supplies to the Pančevo refinery while Russian owners seek buyers for their majority stake in the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), Vučić said. "We expected to receive a license from the US government to continue supplying oil to our refinery in Pančevo. We did not receive a positive decision," Vučić said. "I am not only disappointed, but also surprised, because I don't see what they gained from it. "Russia does not want to sell NIS, the Serbian president said, adding the issue concerns politics rather than money. He said the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has shown no indication it will reverse its decision. "That is their right, they are the owners," Vučić pointed out. Serbia's Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović will inform NIS the refinery must cease operations, Vučić said. The facility loses €370,000 daily operating under current restrictions. Serbia has provided NIS permission to shut down the refinery 54 days after US sanctions took effect.The National Bank of Serbia and commercial banks could face secondary US sanctions for conducting transactions with NIS, Vučić warned.
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