Departure from Russia "puts Vučić in a difficult position"

 

Serbia maintains good relations with Moscow during the war in Ukraine, and the oil industry is tied to Russia, writes the largest German news agency dpa (The German Press Agency). "Washington no longer wants to allow this," the agency states.

 

The agency reports the words of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, who spoke with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade, stating that Washington is working with Belgrade to change the ownership structure in the Serbian Oil Industry.

 

Dpa (The German Press Agency) reminds that the outgoing U.S. administration under President Joe Biden imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft.

 

"By weakening the Russian energy sector, the U.S. aims to undermine the financial foundation of the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine," the agency notes.

 

Gazprom Neft and its parent company Gazprom hold a majority stake in Serbia's NIS (Oil Industry of Serbia).

 

"After the meeting with Richard Verma, Vučić said that the leadership in Belgrade needs additional talks with the Americans. Only then, he said, can he approach Moscow with an offer to buy the shares held by Gazprom Neft," dpa reports.

 

The German agency assesses that U.S. pressure to "derussify" Serbia's largest oil company "clearly puts Vučić in a difficult position."

 

"For days, he has publicly complained that NIS could fall under U.S. sanctions," the agency writes.

 

Frankfurter Rundschau (FR) reminds that NIS is "one of the most profitable companies in Serbia, one of the largest exporters, and the backbone of the country's energy system."

The newspaper reports Vučić's words that, at Washington's request, the Russians will have to sell their entire stake in NIS. "As the president said, he plans to talk to Putin, U.S. representatives, and China."

 

Berliner Zeitung reports that Serbia has allegedly cancelled some contracts for procuring Russian weapons due to the business becoming impossible because of international sanctions against Moscow.

The statement of the Chief of the General Staff, Milan Mojsilović, is quoted from Večernje Novosti:

"We have cancelled some contracts and postponed others, hoping that the situation in international relations at the global level will normalize and enable the implementation of the agreements."

The newspaper notes that Mojsilović did not specify which contracts or weapons were involved.

Berliner Zeitung assesses that Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, is "increasingly turning to other potential arms suppliers."

"In August of last year, the purchase of 12 Rafale fighter jets from France was confirmed, in order to replace the fleet consisting of Russian MiG-29s," the newspaper writes.

"Earlier this month, the new Chinese air defense system FK-3 was presented, which was delivered in 2022 and is mostly compared to the U.S. Patriot missile system and the Russian S-300. This makes Serbia the first European country to use the (Chinese) system," the newspaper concludes.