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Serbia to seek replacement for Russian oil - president

According to Aleksandar Vucic, "two large companies are not bringing diesel and gasoline" to the republic

BELGRADE, June 25. /TASS/. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday that the republic should find a replacement for oil from Russia since the country is encountering problems with its deliveries.

"A major strategic problem is that we need to find a replacement for Russian oil and prior to that we are working on new storage facilities, finding them in private structures," he said in his address to the nation broadcast by the Tanjug news agency.

According to the president, "two large companies are not bringing diesel and gasoline" to the republic and it has only the Russian-Serbian Naftna Industrija Srbije (Petroleum Industry of Serbia, NIS) oil and gas company left with 56.1% of it belonging to Russians. He noted that Serbia was being blackmailed with oil from Kirkuk supplied via the Adriatic oil pipeline (JANAF), additionally, due to Russia’s large share in the NIS some producers do not want to cooperate. The Serbian leader thinks that if problems emerge at the Pancevo oil refinery which belongs to the NIS, this will cause difficulties for the country.

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