Serbian NIS refinery resumes activity - First crude oil supply begins after US sanctions lifted
Serbia's sole oil refinery, NIS, controlled by Russia and sanctioned by the US, received its first crude oil shipments via Croatia's Janaf pipeline on Tuesday morning. The resumption of operations came after the company received a temporary operating license from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The NIS refinery in the northern city of Pancevo, which is expected to resume full operations around January 16, will receive about 85,000 tons of crude oil via Janaf this week and another 35,000-45,000 tons next week.
NIS was forced to shut down its 4.8 million tons/year Pancevo refinery last month after US sanctions came into effect, blocking its only crude oil import route through Janaf. Janaf has a contract with NIS to transport 10 million tons of crude oil between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2026.
The US Treasury announced sanctions on NIS due to its Russian ownership in January 2025. The implementation of the restrictions was postponed several times before they took effect in October.
NIS is 44.85% owned by Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom. The Serbian government has 29.87% ownership and St. Petersburg-based Intelligence, a company indirectly controlled by Gazprom, has 11.3%. The rest belongs to a number of minority shareholders.
OFAC had requested a complete exit of Russian owners from NIS and allowed the Serbian company to negotiate the sale of the Russian shares until March 24.
In addition to operating the oil refinery in Pančevo, NIS runs the largest fuel retail network in Serbia, with 327 gas stations and supplies 80% of the fuel consumed in the country. The Serbian company is also active in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Romania and employs around 14,000 people.
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