The European Union has decided that, although it is majority owned by Russian GazpromNeft, Serbian oil company NIS will be exempted from oil sanctions against Russia, which in practice means that it will be able to import crude oil from its member states.
Namely, in mid-March, the European Council adopted a decision which prescribes that third countries cannot import crude oil from the territory of the European Union if they are owned by Russian state capital. Therefore, Croatian oil transportation company JANAF announced that it will halt oil supply to Serbian NIS as of mid-May.
Thanks to this exemption, NIS will continue to be able to freely import oil purchased from EU member states, as well as to transport oil produced in Russia.
In addition to Serbia, this EU decision exempts other Western Balkan countries from oil sanctions against Russia.
