BELGRADE (Reuters) -Serbia has secured a three-month reprieve on the Russian-owned oil company NIS, which is under U.S. sanctions that threaten fuel supplies at the country ahead of winter, a government official said on Saturday.
Serbia said this week that Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Gazprom – which together hold a controlling stake of 56% in its sole oil refinr NIS had sent a request to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), stating readiness to cede control of the company to a third party.
OFAC initially placed sanctions on Russia’s oil sector, including Gazprom, in January, but for NIS they were postponed several times and finally came into effect on October 8.
(Reporting by Aleskandar Vasovic; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Louise Heavens)