OREANDA-NEWS From November 1, 2022, Belgrade will not be able to import oil from Russia due to the sixth package of EU sanctions, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said. He clarified that according to the current scheme, Russian hydrocarbons are delivered by tankers to Croatia and then sent via the JANAF Adriatic oil pipeline for processing.

"From November 1, we will not be able to import Russian oil under the current sanctions, and who knows what sanctions will be adopted before then," Vucic said.

He added that hydrocarbons are essential for the heat and energy supply of the country. According to Vučić, 120,000 tons of fuel oil are required for one winter alone. In particular, in the Serbian city of Obrenovac, where the Tent-A thermal power plant is located, 350 tons of fuel oil are consumed daily, since “the coal is not dry enough and of good quality,” the president added.

At the end of March, the operator of the Croatian oil pipeline JANAF announced the suspension from mid-May for an indefinite period of oil transportation for the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), which is the largest in the region and in fact the only refiner and miner of black gold in the country. It is known that the share of Gazprom Neft in NIS is 65.15%.

A month later, JANAF representatives announced that the oil pipeline would continue to supply raw materials to NIS after being withdrawn from the sanctions package.