In the past month, US sanctions against Russian companies have affected the Serbian company Petroleum Industry of Serbia, NIS, which is 45 percent owned by Russian Gazprom.
Earlier this fall, Serbia's Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic stated that the oil refinery would continue production until November 25. Later, local authorities stated that they had increased stocks and prepared imports for December.
"You can prolong the suffering for a few months through additional imports, but NIS will go bankrupt if they can no longer operate," economist and energy expert Goran Radosavljevic told AFP.
In 2008, Serbia sold a majority stake in the company NIS to the Russian company Gazprom. Today, Gazprom Neft owns around 45 percent of the company.
