US denies operating license to Serbia's Russian-owned oil refinery
Serbia must halt operations at its NIS oil refinery after Washington denied its license, risking the nation's fuel supply, according to President Vučić.
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00:00Serbia failed to secure a United States operating license for its Russian-owned oil refinery,
00:07forcing the facility to halt operations and threatening the country's fuel supply.
00:12The U.S. rejected Serbia's request to waive sanctions on the facility while its Russian
00:16owners looked for buyers in their majority stake in the petroleum industry of Serbia,
00:21known as NIS. The news was announced by President Aleksandr Vucic on Tuesday,
00:27who noted that he was surprised by Washington's decision.
00:31NIS is 45% owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, while the Serbian government only owned roughly 30%.
00:40The refinery covers most of Serbia's needs, and existing sanctions are already causing losses,
00:47amounting to more than €350,000 daily.
00:51Serbia has, however, taken the bold decision to secure payment transactions for NIS,
00:57a move that risks secondary U.S. sanctions on the country's central bank and commercial lenders.
01:02Vucic says interrupting NIS's payment systems would cause a huge catastrophe for Serbia's investment rating and the company.
01:31The country maintains sufficient fuel stocks to last until late January,
01:37but the president said logistical challenges lie ahead, with transport costs expected to soar.
01:43He also called the U.S.'s decision to reject Belgrade's request as politically motivated,
01:49saying Washington wants to send the message that it's not only the NIS under sanctions, but all of Serbia.
01:55And the U.S. is not only the NIS under sanctions, but all of Austria is ciągle.
01:56And when you start to stay with Venezuela, the U.S. states and the U.S. who are still trying to come to get the NIS.
01:57We will have the NIS.
01:57We will have the NIS under sanctions and the U.S. but the U.S. states and the U.S. states and the U.S. states and the U.S. states and the U.S. states and the U.S. states.
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