President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić he said on Thursday that the US sanctions Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) be introduced from October 1 and stated that in the following period there will be reserves, but that there will be a problem with salary payments to NIS employees and all other transactions.
He explained this by saying that no bank will want to cooperate with a company that is under US sanctions.
"It seems to me that the Americans extended the non-imposition of sanctions for only four more days, that is, from September 27 to October 1. So, from October 1, we will have sanctions against NIS," Vučić told reporters in New York.
He assessed that Serbia in the specific situation is "collateral damage to the relations between the Americans, the West and the Russians".
"We will pay a high price because the Russians are the majority owner of NIS. So, to be completely clear and to make it completely clear to all our citizens - we were extremely fair to our Russian and American partners. We will try to be fair, but people must know that we will pay an extremely high price," said Vučić.
"Hard weather and winter await us"
He pointed out that there will be reserves in the coming period, but that there will be a problem with salary payments to NIS employees, as well as all other transactions, since no bank will want to cooperate with a company that is under US sanctions.
"Let's wait, maybe a miracle will happen until October 1. We are facing difficult weather and winter. We will do our best so that the citizens have a warm winter in their homes and that they do not worry about the supply of their cars and those who drive trucks, and everything else will be much, much more difficult. Everything is complicated, from the economic to all other things. We have neither eaten onions nor smelled them, but we will pay a high price," emphasized Vučić.
He pointed out today that Serbia is working on finding a solution for the introduction of American sanctions on NIS, but that there is very little interest from certain parties in the problems that Serbia is facing.
"We're hitting a wall"
"We are working and examining all possibilities, but when you see that there is little interest on the part of some parties in the problems that Serbia is facing, what should you do? We are running into a wall, how can we break through the wall with our head, from whichever side we try, we will hurt our heads. We are trying to find another way, without hitting the wall," said Vučić.
As he emphasized, at the moment he does not see a solution to that problem and calls on everyone in Serbia to point to it if they see a solution. He pointed out that whatever was offered, the Russian side did not want to accept, and that whatever was proposed for delaying the sanctions, the Americans were introducing them.
"What should I do, to threaten the Russians, the Americans, we are small, it makes no sense, and I have to provide the people with oil," said Vučić.
