Mali: Sanctions on NIS would be extremely bad but there is light at end of tunnel

BELGRADE - Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said on Monday potential US sanctions on Serbia's majority Russian-owned oil company NIS from January 1 would be extremely bad for Serbia but noted that the arrival of a new US administration might be a light at the end of the tunnel.

"I believe sanctions are a very big and difficult problem for us, but we will do everything in our power to solve that problem," Mali told Pink TV.

"NIS is the lifeblood of our economy," Mali said.

"As soon as the sanctions are imposed, the supply of crude oil from Croatia will stop. That is the only pipeline we are using for getting oil supplies. That is why we have started building the one to Hungary to diversify the supplies. Therefore, at that moment the question will arise whether you have oil, fuel and, at the end of the day, whether you even have gas for gas-fired power plants," Mali said.

"We will do all we can to ensure there are no sanctions," he said.

He added that not all details were known about potential sanctions on NIS.

"We are working and thinking about some models, but I can say nothing more specific at this time except that Serbia will have to talk to both the US and the Russian side if and when that happens, to try to find a solution that would primarily be in the interest of our Serbia," Mali said.