Serbia’s only oil refinery will resume operations later this month after being offline for over a month due to US sanctions, according to Reuters. The NIS plant, partially owned by Russian state firms, was granted a temporary US license allowing a restart while sale talks continue.
Serbia’s Russian-linked refinery to restart on 17 or 18 January
Reuters reports that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the NIS refinery in the northern town of Pančevo will become operational on 17 or 18 January after receiving a temporary operating license from the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He added that the first shipment of 85,000 tons of crude oil is expected to arrive by 15 January, with oil derivative production to begin around 25 or 26 January.
The refinery, which is under US sanctions, had shut down after crude oil deliveries were halted via the Croatian JANAF pipeline. On 4 January, Vučić confirmed the refinery would reopen following a 36-day pause in operations. He said the license granted by OFAC permits NIS to operate until 23 January.
OFAC issued the waiver to allow time for the divestment of the Russian stake in NIS. The US has set a deadline of 24 March for the ownership change to be completed. The Serbian government currently holds 29.9% of NIS shares. Russia's Gazprom owns 11.3%, while its oil arm, Gazprom Neft, controls 44.9%. The rest is owned by small shareholders and company employees.
US sanctions paused, again
This is not the first delay in enforcing sanctions against the refinery. In late September 2025, the US postponed implementation for the seventh time. On 31 December 2025, Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović said the company had received a new temporary license, allowing it to function through January, marking at least the seventh time sanctions were postponed. At the time, the US stated that the NIS sanctions would be applied on 8 October.
Despite repeated extensions, the refinery’s ownership structure remains unchanged as of early January 2026. Talks between the Russian stakeholders and Hungary’s MOL over the possible sale of Russian shares are ongoing, with Serbian officials publicly supporting the deal. However, prior attempts to secure a buyer have failed, prompting further deadline shifts.
In November 2025, Belgrade signaled its intent to nationalize the refinery by preparing a budget law amendment, though this too has yet to materialize.
This week, Croatia's JANAF also received a license allowing it to resume crude exports to NIS.
