US sanctions on Serbia’s majority-Russian-owned NIS oil company, which operates the country’s sole refinery, took effect on Thursday after months of delay.

The United States sanctioned the company, Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), in January as part of its crackdown on the Russian energy sector following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

After the sanctions came into force Thursday morning, NIS said it “had not yet been granted an extension of the special licence from the United States Department of the Treasury”.

“NIS is working to overcome this situation,” it said in a statement, adding it would work with the US Treasury to seek its removal from the sanctions list.

The company said it has “sufficient crude oil reserves for processing at this time, while petrol stations are ful

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