The extension for NIS, Serbia's only refinery operator, was announced in the context of the US extending the crude oil transportation license to Serbia to Croatia's JANAF pipeline operator so that the company can complete the contracted delivery.
The US imposed sanctions on the NIS in January 2025 in a larger move to isolate Russia's energy assets.
The NIS is one of Russia's last remaining energy assets in Europe. Gazprom Neft holds a 44.9% stake and a Gazprom investor holds about 11.3% in the NIS. The Serbian government holds a 29.9% stake in NIS.
Experts say that although the NIS insists that there will be enough reserves to supply oil and oil products to the domestic market in the short term, the sanctions are expected to complicate long-term efforts to ensure delivery.
JANAF, a crude oil transport company from the Croatian coast to Serbia, said the extension of the license would help the company carry out "regular and necessary operations for oil transportation, with the goal of completing all operations under the crude oil transport contract previously mentioned on October 15".
The next crude shipment expected to arrive at the Croatian port of Omisalj for transportation via the JANAF network to the NIS is the Maran Helios, carrying about 1 million barrels of Kazakhstan crude oil. According to a source familiar with the matter, the ship docked on the night of October 8 and early morning of October 9.
