Russia is blackmailing Vučić: Will you be brave enough to nationalize the Serbian Oil Industry?

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is facing an unprecedented dilemma: to accept American demands and move away from Russian control, risking Moscow’s political reaction, or to defend Russian interests, risking international isolation and the security of oil supply. At the center of the ‘crisis’ is the control of NIS, where Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of the shares, the Serbian state owns 29.87%, while companies linked to Gazprom hold over 11%.

With the clear-cut decision by the United States demanding the complete withdrawal of the Russians from the Serbian Oil Industry, a decision dating back to February of this year but presented to the Serbian public as something new from time to time, Aleksandar Vučić appears to be backed into a corner and is being blackmailed by the Russians so that he still does not dare to nationalize the Serbian Oil Industry.

Russian media wrote the other day—and this was also relayed to the Serbian public by Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović-Handanović, who said that Serbia supports this Russian initiative—that the Russian owner of NIS agrees to transfer control of the company to a third party.

The US introduced full sanctions against NIS due to its majority Russian ownership on October 9.

“We are constantly taking risks because of our relations with the Russians, our banks are taking risks,” said Vučić, who told Finance Minister Siniša Mali that he “understands his panic, but not to spread it.” “If necessary, go for a budget rebalance,” Vučić said.

Controlling shares in NIS belong to Russia’s Gazprom Neft—44.85 percent, Serbia owns 29.87 percent of the shares, and the Saint Petersburg company Intelligence, linked to Gazprom Capital, controls 11.30 percent. The remainder of the securities are in the hands of minority shareholders.

In an urgently convened government session recently, Vučić said that the final decision on a solution for NIS must be made within the next seven days, and added that, if the Russians fail to agree on a price with their partners, Serbia will offer a better price for the Russian part of NIS, indicating that he does not want anyone’s property to be confiscated or seized.

“We must make a final decision by next week. If they do not agree on the price with their European and Asian partners, my suggestion is to consider offering us a better price. Even though we are not their choice, we were not the Russian choice—I suppose they thought they could finalize it with the management—we must offer a higher price,” Vučić emphasized.

Vučić announced that he would speak with the Russians himself and added that since the condition is to accept talks on ownership, “I hope that the Asian and European partners with whom the Russians are speaking will agree to negotiate on ownership.”

He expressed confidence that he will hold talks with potential Asian partners of the Russian Federation and with potential European partners of the Russian Federation.

“These are our friends, these are always welcome investors in our country. If they agree on a price, and we will ask them to agree quickly, this will be much better for us. If they do not agree on a price, we will offer a higher price, so that we can buy it, because we want to pay even more, and I am telling this openly to the citizens, because we do not want to take anything from anyone. And I do not want to participate in these games in that way,” he said.

He said he would ask the Americans to help, even though they, as he said, produced this situation, in order to enable us to have some kind of oil flow, so that the Refinery could function.

He said that Serbia was not Russia’s choice for the owner of NIS, but that ultimately, if others do not want it, Serbia must raise the price higher.

“If we have no other choice, no matter how much, no matter what it costs, we will find the money, we will talk to the Europeans and everyone else. We will secure the money… I want to avoid the confiscation, nationalization, and seizure of property at all costs. This is not our majority, this is Russia’s majority,” he said.

The US imposed sanctions on NIS on January 10, but Belgrade has requested several delays. The last delay ended on September 26 and was extended until October 8 and 9.

The operator of the Adriatic oil pipeline JANAF in Croatia announced that due to the entry into force of the sanctions, it is suspending cooperation with the Serbian company.

According to the former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and head of the BIA, Aleksandar Vulin, Belgrade is being asked to seize the Russian-owned part of NIS and permanently damage ties with Moscow.

Vučić previously promised that in case of serious problems in the work of NIS, the authorities would take the situation into their own hands. He saw the company’s nationalization as the only way out. At the same time, he noted that he did not want to act this way, as it would be the last resort./The Geopost/