US tells Serbia to zero out Russian ownership of largest national oil company

To avoid US sanctions, Serbia should completely remove Russian ownership of the National Oil Company of Serbia (NOCS), the country’s largest energy company, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien said.

On Friday, the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden imposed its broadest package of sanctions to date, targeting Russia’s oil and gas revenues. The sanctions target Gazprom’s subsidiaries in several countries, notably NIS Novi Sad, a pillar of Serbia’s energy system.