BELGRADE, August 21. /TASS/. The dialogue between the Russian and US leaders, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, may contribute to weakening of the pressure on the Serbian energy sector, Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia Dubravka Dedovic Handanovic told TASS.
"The Republic of Serbia welcomes the high-level talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Alaska, which demonstrated commitment to ending the conflict in Ukraine. The interest of the Republic of Serbia is to achieve a lasting and sustainable solution as soon as possible, since we have been experiencing serious political and economic challenges since 2022 due to our consistent position on this issue," she said.
EU sanctions against Russia have had a negative impact on the activities of Serbia’s oil major NIS due to Russia’s participation in the company's capital, the minister said. "Nevertheless, the company has successfully coped with those challenges, with security of supply not being jeopardized at any time," she noted.
The situation became more complicated after the potential sanctions were introduced by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the official added. "Despite repeated delays in the application of those sanctions, the purchase of crude oil has become difficult, although it has continued. The most important thing is that citizens and the economy did not feel it: there is enough fuel, and prices remain stable," she said.
"We hope that continuation of high-level negotiations will contribute to progress and the achievement of an agreement that could have a positive impact on eliminating uncertainty and removing NIS from the sanctions list," the minister concluded.
On January 10, the US Treasury Department added Gazprom Neft, its CEO Alexander Dyukov, and more than 20 subsidiaries, including NIS, to the sanctions list. 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%). On July 28, the Serbian Energy Ministry reported that Belgrade had secured the fifth deferment of US sanctions against NIS for 30 days.
On August 15, Putin and Trump met at a military base in Anchorage (Alaska). The conversation lasted about three hours, including a change of formats: one-on-one in the limo of the American leader on the way to the main meeting place and in a narrow three-on-three format. In a press statement following the talks, Putin said that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict had become the main topic of the summit.