Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic intends to discuss with Russian leader Vladimir Putin a new gas contract with Russia and the US plans to impose sanctions against the NIS company (Neftna Industrija Srbije) due to Russia’s participation in its ownership.
“Whether I will talk to him on the phone or in some other way, we will see. But I definitely need to talk to him,” he said at a meeting of the Serbian government.
On December 14, Vucic reported that the US could soon impose sanctions against NIS due to the company’s Russian ownership.
According to the central register of securities, Russia’s Gazpromneft owns 50% of NIS, Serbia owns 29.87%, and Gazprom owns 6.15%. Vucic said Belgrade plans to discuss with Moscow the possibility of buying out part of Gazprom’s stake so that it falls below 50%.
According to Kivy Independent, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic claimed, “The British are coming to sanctions as well, which means everyone. It’s one of the worst pieces of news,” during an interview. While neither the US nor the UK has commented on the sanctions, Serbia, an EU candidate, has resisted pressure to break ties with Russia and has refrained from sanctioning it since the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
Vucic further added that “I think this is all a part of larger geopolitical pressure on Russia,” an extended economic pain that he said would be felt especially hard by Serbia, which depends on Russian gas. And he said new negotiations for a gas deal with Russia were ongoing, as part of an effort for a new deal ahead of the expiry of the current agreement in March 2025.
Earlier, Putin updated the procedure for payments for Russian gas by foreign buyers.
