SOCAR interested in buying shares in Serbian oil company

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is interested in taking over the majority of shares in the Serbian oil company NIS, Report informs, citing Serbian media.

SOCAR is reportedly in contact with the Serbian government as well as with the majority owner of NIS, the Russian state-owned Gazpromneft.

Since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Moscow has been subject to economic sanctions by Western countries, including those related to the fuel and gas trade. This raises the fear of how NIS can supply its Pančevo refinery with crude oil via the territory of the European Union, writes Demostat.

The EU has banned the sale and transport of crude oil on its territory to companies from third countries whose majority owner comes from Russia. This is the case with the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), in which the Russian state company Gazpromneft owns a 51% share, while the rest is in the hands of the Serbian government. However, a few days ago, there were media reports that the EU had decided to exempt Serbia from these sanctions against Russian companies, which means that NIS could still be supplied regularly and operate normally.