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Serbia Wins Fresh US Sanctions Waiver for Russia-Owned NIS

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Serbia has secured another one-month waiver from US sanctions on Russian-owned oil company NIS, buying more time for negotiations over the sale of its Russian-controlled stake, Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said in a social media post on Friday.

"Good news for Serbia's energy security and the continuity of supply to our market, NIS's operating license has been extended until August 28!" Handanovic said on Instagram.

The waiver, granted by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, allows NIS, which operates Serbia's only oil refinery and supplies most of the country's fuel, to continue importing crude for another month.

The extension gives the company additional time while Hungary's oil and gas company MOL negotiates the purchase of the Russian majority stake in NIS.

The US imposed sanctions on NIS in October as part of broader measures targeting Russia's energy sector over Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Washington has required the company's Russian majority shareholders, Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, to divest their stakes in NIS.

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