Serbia is facing gas losses from two major suppliers as US sanctions target the country's main oil and gas company owned by Russia, while Azerbaijan has said it cannot provide energy to Serbia, Politico reported.
"This is the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a company in Serbia," said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
The US sanctions against Russia announced on January 10 target Serbia's Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), in which Gazprom and Russia's Gazprom Neft hold a majority stake.
"They are asking us to completely withdraw the interests of Russia. They do not even allow the ability to hold a 49% stake but require a complete withdrawal from the NIS," the Serbian president added.
Gazprom Neft holds a 50% stake and Gazprom owns a 6.15% stake in a Serbian gas and oil supplier. Meanwhile, the Serbian government only owns a 29.8% stake in the company.
On January 10, the US Treasury Department announced new financial sanctions targeting Russia's energy sector, stating that Serbia's gas and oil industries are at risk of facing secondary sanctions if the country continues to conduct transactions with Russia.
On January 11, a press conference was suddenly called, in which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Azerbaijan would also cut off gas supplies to Serbia.
"I have received information from our brothers and friends in Azerbaijan that due to the force majeure and the problems they are facing, up to now, we cannot rely on 1.7 million cubic meters of gas supplied daily to the country," said Aleksandar Vucic.
Azerbaijan is a alternative gas supply to Russian gas for much of Southeast Europe and Italy via the Trans Adriatic pipeline. From there, Azerbaijani gas is distributed to other European countries not in the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC).
Politico said that these two developments are both seen as a direct challenge to the fragile geopolitical balance that Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic has spent more than a decade building, in which he approves Western values and EU policies while maintaining close relations with Russia and China.
"We will protect Serbia's interests at all costs. There will be no shortages and no disasters" - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic affirmed.
Serbia has until March 12 to complete final financial transactions with Gazprom and Gazprom Neft as well as change the NIS ownership structure, including the possibility of Hungary's MOL jumping to buy Russian shares. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said he will talk directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue.
