The United States has imposed sanctions against two Russian oil companies – Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control, a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for sanctions enforcement) announced on Friday. OFAC issued traditional in such cases licenses to curtail operations with “Gazprom Neft” and “Surgutneftegaz” and withdraw from their securities for a period until February 27, 2025.
A whole group of subsidiaries of Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz are also under sanctions from now on.
The SDN List also includes the Serbian subsidiary of Gazprom Neft – NIS, about the risk of U.S. sanctions against which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke at the end of December. In this regard, Belgrade has already started negotiations with interested parties, and one of the solutions is to reduce the Russian stake in NIS to less than 50%, he said. NIS is the only company in Serbia engaged in exploration and production of hydrocarbons, it also owns a large refinery in Pančevo. The company dominates the Serbian oil products market, and the NIS network of gas stations is also present in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Romania, totaling more than 400 stations. Gazprom Neft currently owns 50% of NIS, with Gazprom holding 6.15%. Another 29.87% of shares are owned by Serbia, the rest by minority shareholders.
