BELGRADE, January 12. /TASS/. The Pancevo Oil Refinery, owned by NIS (Neftna Industrija Srbije), will receive a shipment of 85,000 tons of oil this week, Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic-Handanovic announced.
"After almost 100 days, the first batch of oil will arrive via the Adriatic Pipeline. This is approximately 85,000 tons, which will be delivered this week. Therefore, the Pancevo refinery will begin operations around January 16, or at least before the end of the week. We expect the first batch of diesel fuel to be produced and reach the market around January 26-27," the Minister of Energy noted in a comment to Radio Television of Serbia.
Djedovic-Handanovic added that the Serbian refinery will receive another 35,000-45,000 tons of crude next week.
In early January 2025, the US Department of the Treasury introduced sanctions against Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft, its CEO Alexander Dyukov, and against Serbian NIS. The US has repeatedly postponed sanctions against the company since then. Restrictions came into force on October 9.
At an extraordinary government meeting on November 16, Serbia's Finance Minister called on President Aleksandar Vucic to consider nationalizing NIS due to mounting pressure and threats to the country's economy.
On December 31, 2025, the Serbian Ministry of Energy announced that NIS had received a license from the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to continue operations until January 23. On the same day, the Croatian government announced that OFAC had issued a license to JANAF, allowing it to continue transporting oil for NIS until January 23, 2026. As official Zagreb noted, this decision ensures the continuation of oil supplies exclusively from non-Russian sources.
NIS is one of the largest vertically integrated energy systems in Southeastern Europe. Its majority shareholders are Gazprom Neft (44.85% of shares), Gazprom (11.3%), and Serbia (29.87%).