US sanctions on Serbia’s majority-Russian-owned Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) oil company, which operates the country’s sole refinery, have taken effect after months of delay.

After the sanctions came into force on Thursday morning, NIS said it “had not yet been granted an extension of the special licence from the United States Department of the Treasury”.

“NIS is working to overcome this situation,” it said in a statement, adding it would work with the US Treasury to seek its removal from the sanctions list.

Serbia almost entirely depends on Russian gas and oil supplies, which it receives mainly through pipelines in Croatia and other neighbouring states.

The fuels are then distributed by NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia’s state oil monopoly Gazprom Neft.

The US sanctioned

See Full Page