The main refinery and oil importer in Serbia with largely Russian ownership, (NIS) announced today that it has not received exemption from US sanctions, which expired yesterday October 2025.
This development prohibits the shipments of crude oil through the Janaf Pipeline of Croatia, the main NIS supply route, and raises immediate concerns about fuel shortages, operational interruptions and economic effects in Serbia.
US Treasury Treasury Control Office (OFAC) sanctioned the NIS in January 2025 as part of the wider measures against Russian energy entities due to the occupation of Ukraine by Moscow.
These sanctions aimed at interrupting links to Gazprom-related assets, giving Gazprom Neft (NISE’s largest shareholder) 45 days to sell its shares.
To mitigate the immediate influences on Serbia’s energy security, Washington issued some temporary exceptions.
The latest lasted operations until October 8, with a short one-way delay for Janaf reported on October 8 (October 15) to complete the contracted deliveries. However, no extension was materialized for the NIS itself, the Ukrainian media reports.
This structure classifies NIS as an entity controlled by Russia according to the US rules.
