The EU ramps up oil from Russia: Serbia under sanctions from today

A new set of European Union sanctions against Russia entered into force today. As a result of this decision, Serbia is banned from importing Russian oil through the Croatian Janaf pipeline.

The decision to cap the price of Russian oil at $60 per barrel and the embargo on Russian oil imports into the European Union, from which only Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are exempted due to their geographical location, come into force today and increased dependence on Russian oil, which is impossible to overcome in the short term, according to EWB.

The price cap at USD 60 per barrel applies to all Russian oil sold to third countries using EU and G7 tankers, their insurance companies and credit institutions. Moscow has signalled that it will not respect the price cap and will cut production if necessary. The EU and G7 will review the price cap every two months.

How does this decision affect Serbia?

The EU’s decision to limit the price of Russian oil exported by third countries has raised a lot of dust in Serbia. The sanctions against Russia have virtually been passed on to our country, as Serbia will no longer be able to import oil through Janaf once they are in place.

However, the relevant ministry had previously told Nova.rs that the secure supply of oil products to the domestic market was guaranteed, “in which the NIS plays an important role”.

“After 5 December, when the eighth set of EU sanctions against the Russian Federation will come into force, an unhindered supply of all types of oil available on the free market will be guaranteed, thus maintaining the security of supply of the Pančevo refinery,” the ministry said.

As underlined, a significant amount of the oil we import does not come from the territory of sanctioned countries.

“Most importantly, regardless of the energy crisis facing the whole of Europe, citizens can count on a secure supply of all oil products. In addition to addressing the supply issue, work is also underway to increase crude oil stocks, which, alongside stable stocks of oil products, would provide additional security in the event of market disruptions,” the ministry said.

The decision to ban imports of Russian oil into Serbia has angered members of the Serbian leadership, especially President Aleksandar Vucic, as some EU countries are exempt from the ban. This was supposed to apply to Serbia as well, but according to Vucic, Croatia also insisted that we would not be exempted from the ban.

“We knew about the previous decision that this kind of sanction would apply to the Western Balkan countries, but in the meantime the EC decided to exempt us, and then Croatia came along with its proposal that we should not be exempted. That would be them, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania. That is the change that has taken place. ‘Unfortunately, I do not think we will be exempt and we are preparing to buy some other oil,’ he said at the first moment.

Later, even tougher words were spoken, and the whole situation led to a new strain in relations between Belgrade and Zagreb.

“I repeat, Croatia was just doing its job, which it has been doing since 41.” Croatia is just doing its job, everything it has been doing for the last 70, 80 years. I don’t resent it at all,” the Serbian President polemicised with Croatian journalists.

The ban on Russian oil imports has been known for half a year. In June, Vucic said that Serbia would lose around 600 million dollars because of the sanctions imposed on Russian oil.

At that time, he said that Iraqi oil was more expensive by USD 31 per barrel.

“Serbia is sanctioned because it has to transport Russian oil by tanker to Omiš in Croatia, and transport by sea is sanctioned,” the Serbian President said.

When it became clear that Serbia would not be exempted from the import ban, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that such a decision by the EU would cost us hundreds of millions of euros.

“The European Union has allowed these sanctions to the detriment of the lives and standards of all Serbian citizens, including members of the Croatian national minority. This will cost us hundreds of millions of euros”, Brnabićeva said./Nova.rs/