New Delhi: From November 1, Serbia will not be able to import Russian oil due to EU sanctions, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday.
“Dozens of new problems emerge every day. We consume 350 tonnes of fuel oil daily, and in winter we will spend seven times more. We need to find fuel oil, there is not enough fuel oil in the NIS (Naftna industrija Srbije). On November 1, we will no longer be able to import Russian oil under the current sanctions, and God knows what sanctions will be introduced by then,” Vucic said.
Earlier, Vucic said that EU sanctions against Russian oil pulled out $600 mln of Serbia’s pocket.
“Only by imposing sanctions on Russian oil, they directly take $600 million from our pocket! $600 million was taken directly from the pockets of Serbian citizens, this is within a year. People in Serbia should know this. Kirkuk, Iraqi oil, is $31 per barrel more expensive. They took $600 million from us, and we still have to invest additional money for gas,” Vucic said.
On June 3, the EU Council adopted the sixth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, including a postponed embargo on maritime supplies of oil and petroleum products from Russia. The ban on sea supplies of oil has been postponed until early December, for oil products – until February 2023. Temporary exemptions from the embargo are provided for imports via oil pipelines for those EU states that, due to their location, are extremely dependent on supplies from Russia and have no alternatives. These are first of all Hungary and Slovakia.
(Vinayak)