Russian owners of NIS have sent a request to the American OFAC requesting an extension of the operating license, based on negotiations with a third party.
The request states that the Russian side is ready to hand over control and influence over the company NIS to a third party.
This was announced today by the Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, and added that the state of Serbia officially supported this request.
“The state of Serbia officially supported this request. OFAC has already reacted with certain comments and we hope that they will present their position during the week. Time is running out and a solution must be found, but citizens must not suffer and be left without fuel. That will not and must not happen,” emphasized Đedović Handanović.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, stated on Saturday that he expects Serbia, together with the Russians and some others that the Russian side will find, to send a letter to OFAC on Monday or Tuesday for the exemption of NIS from American sanctions.
“I expect, this is the news – that on Monday or Tuesday, jointly with the Russians and with some others that the Russian side will find, we will send a letter to OFAC, the American government, and we expect an answer from them, whether they accept, in a period of one, two or three months, to exempt us from sanctions, because it is evident that we have started to resolve the issue of management. Whether it will be necessary to resolve the issue of ownership later, that remains to be fully seen,” Vučić said.
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Source: B92; Photo: OLIVER BUNIC / AFP