The company NIS on April 23, it submitted a new request to the US Treasury Department for the issuance of a special license that postpones full implementation sanction.
The relevant minister, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, stated that the Government of Serbia, in a letter sent to OFAC, supported NIS's request for the issuance of a new special license from the US Department of Finance, which would enable the company to operate smoothly after the expiration of the valid license, which runs from March 28, the Ministry of Mining and Energy announced.
"We have asked the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to extend the special license for at least 90 days to allow NIS to continue its core business activities while we continue negotiations to reach a long-term solution," she said.
The minister chairs the working group for monitoring the activities of the US Department of Finance, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in connection with the potential introduction of sanctions on NIS.
The letter points out that the full application of sanctions against NIS would significantly impair the company's ability to operate and provide energy to the citizens of Serbia and points to its importance for the energy sector, the economy, and the functioning of public sector institutions.
"We used this address to once again point out to the American administration the importance of NIS for the Serbian economy and that the inability of NIS to continue with current activities threatens to seriously harm the economy, energy security and stability of Serbia and the region," she stated.
"The Government of Serbia has been conducting an intense diplomatic struggle for four months now"
Đedović Handanović stressed that the Government of Serbia has been conducting an intense diplomatic struggle for four months regarding the sanctions against the NIS.
"The two previous postponements of the entry into force of the sanctions show that there is an understanding of our situation. Serbia will continue to wage a strong diplomatic struggle regarding the issue of NIS, and it is certain that the solution to this problem will be the topic of talks between the President of Serbia Vučić and in Moscow and Washington, in order to reach a permanent and sustainable solution for our oil industry," she said.
She added that we also expect that Hungary, as Serbia's strategic partner in the energy sector, will also support the request of the Serbian Oil Industry, as it has done before.
