Belgrade wants to take over Russian refinery, threatens shutdown in a few days

Serbia is drafting legislation that will allow it to gain control of the Russian NIS refinery, which has been sanctioned by the United States. The company is majority owned by Russia's Gazprom and the sanctions came into force in October after several temporary exemptions.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said the proposal to take over NIS would be part of the parliamentary debate on amendments to the state budget.

At the same time, President Aleksandar Vucic warned that if the US does not lift sanctions, the refinery's operations will be halted within four days, which could seriously disrupt fuel supplies ahead of the winter.

Budapest is also reacting to the situation. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó arrived in Belgrade to offer assistance after Croatia halted oil supplies to the refinery.

(reuters, swag)