Vucic: NIS License Expires September 30, Lavrov Meeting Set
Vucic says NIS's sale is not up to Serbia, with its license expiring September 30. He announced 20,000 tons of diesel and a meeting with Lavrov in New York.
The license that lets the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) operate normally expires on September 30, 2026, the same day the current gas arrangement with Russia runs out. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke about this clearly for the first time on September 20, on Radio Belgrade 1, ahead of his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly session.
Two separate permits expire that same day: the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) operating license for NIS, and Hungarian company MOL’s license to negotiate with Russia’s Gazprom Neft. Asked how long it would take to reach a long term solution, Vucic kept his answer short.
“It’s not up to us, that’s all I can tell you. We are ready. We have done our part.”
Who Wants NIS?
According to Vucic, three sides have competing interests in NIS ownership. Russia wants to keep control of the company. The United States is weighing whether it is better off letting a European country take over NIS or acquiring it itself. Hungary, whose state company MOL has been tied to NIS for years, “certainly has a good deal in all of this,” Vucic said, though it remains unclear whether Hungary has an interest in standing against the United States over the dispute.
While the outcome is pending, the state has decided to build up fuel reserves.
“We are now stepping in with another 20,000 tons of diesel to keep the market fully supplied,” Vucic said, adding that prices in Serbia will stay lower than in the region thanks to what he described as the state’s stronger financial preparedness.
How High Could Fuel Excise Taxes Go?
Excise taxes currently make up about 25% of the price at the pump, the cut the state collects on every liter of fuel sold, and the room Vucic is counting on to cushion the rise in crude oil prices on world markets. He said that share could be raised if needed, first to 30%, and in a worst case scenario to 35%.
The caution stems from crude oil supply. Serbia does not produce oil, it imports it, mostly so called Iraqi crude. Shipments of Arab oil have been complicated by the conflicts in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, which pushes up prices on world exchanges regardless of how much gas and oil is physically available.
“As for gas, our reserves are overflowing. As for oil, that’s a bigger headache,” Vucic said.
Sources differ on the exact size of those gas reserves. The Republika portal reports that Serbia and Hungary together hold about 690 million cubic meters of gas in storage. Kurir, citing economist Veljko Miljuskovic, cites the same figure of 690 million cubic meters without splitting it between the two countries, and notes that Serbia’s storage fill rate is above the European average of 67%.
A comparison with European Union prices shows why Vucic points to this as an advantage. By his account, a liter of fuel already costs about 2.40 euros in France and nearly 3 euros in Austria, while prices in Germany are also high and have stirred consumer discontent. Serbian prices are lower, he argued, thanks to the reserves and the state’s interventions, and he said no sharp jump in fuel prices, including heating oil, should be expected even during the coming heating season.
Talks With Lavrov and Putin
Vucic expects to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York, and did not rule out a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future. Both conversations will cover the gas arrangement and NIS’s fate. He said gas deliveries from Russia are currently running normally, but with the deadline expiring on September 30, whether the arrangement continues remains open until the New York meeting itself.
“I’m worried about what kind of winter is coming, but we know our job,” Vucic said, tying the energy picture to the wider geopolitical situation, including the fresh strikes on Moscow and Kyiv he also addressed in the same interview.
Alongside energy issues, the president also announced an infrastructure project toward Romania: a highway from Belgrade through Vrsac to Timisoara, which he discussed with Romania’s president as part of the Carpathian Initiative. He called it the most important transport link between the two countries, with the possibility of further connections via Kladovo and Turnu Severin down the road.
Srpske Novine reported on the state of gas reserves on September 18, in an article on Serbia’s storage levels and the 77 euro price. Vucic’s appearance on Radio Belgrade 1 now adds a firm deadline, September 30, the day both the NIS license and the gas arrangement with Russia expire, after which it will be clear whether the announced extra diesel and reserves were enough.
