Serbia has suspended operations at its NIS refinery due to a lack of crude oil supplies and faces a race against time to secure fuel for the winter. The Balkan country has been scrambling to source alternative energy supplies, since the US Treasury slapped sanctions on Russia 's oil sector back in January.

The sanctions hit NIS, which is majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom. Belgrade had been granted repeated waivers before the sanctions finally came into effect in October. At which point, banks stopped processing the refinery's payments and Croatia's JANAF pipeline halted crude deliveries to the refinery.

Ukraine commander issues chilling 'critical' warning over Russia's rapid advance

Putin dealt humiliating blow as Ukraine 'strikes laser-carrying warplane'

Serbia's p

See Full Page