Serbia estimated the costs due to the ban on the supply of Russian oil

BELGRADE, 7 Oct – PRIME. A ban on oil supplies from Russia by tankers and the pumping of raw materials through Croatia will increase Serbia’s costs for buying oil by 20% and bring hundreds of millions of euros to the budget, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said.

The EU on Thursday introduced the eighth package of anti-Russian sanctions, which includes both new economic restrictions and expanded lists of personal sanctions. Among the economic sanctions is the introduction of a legislative framework for determining the price ceiling for sea transportation of Russian oil to third countries. It is planned that the price limit will be introduced on December 5 for oil and on February 5, 2023 for oil products.

The package of measures was actively supported by Croatia, where the port of Omišalj is located on the island of Krk in the Adriatic Sea with a terminal for receiving tankers with oil and oil products. From there, the oil is sent via a pipeline to Serbia for processing at the plant of the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), which is 56.15% owned by the companies of the Gazprom group. Serbian Interior Minister Alexander Vulin said on Thursday that the EU, with the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, is introducing the first package of sanctions against Serbia, which depends on Russian oil supplies through Croatia.

“About 70% of the oil from the JANAF pipeline goes to Serbia. We pay from 45 to 47 million euros a year for the use of this oil pipeline. Never even a day late with payment, not a single dinar was owed to them. We behaved like a stable and reliable partner. Croatia is obviously using its position as a country that JANAF passes through to politically influence Serbia through energy,” Brnabic said at a briefing on Friday.

“If we cannot continue, like some EU countries, to receive Russian oil, this means that we will buy it at least 20% more expensive, hundreds and hundreds of millions of euros will directly go out of the pockets of Serbian citizens and Serbian farms because of this,” – stressed the head of government.

The state-owned operator of the JANAF oil pipeline in Croatia announced on April 22 that it would continue to supply raw materials to NIS after being withdrawn from the EU sanctions package. In January, NIS signed a new annual contract with JANAF for the supply of 3.2 million tons of crude oil.

On August 21, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reminded citizens that from November 1, due to sanctions, Serbia will not be able to receive oil from Russia, which is delivered to the country by tankers through the Adriatic Sea, and then through an oil pipeline through Croatia. Vucic said at the end of June that Serbia, due to Western sanctions on oil supplies by tankers from Russia, should find an alternative to Russian oil.