Djedovic Handanovic: I expect solution for NIS to be found by end of week

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Monday she expected a solution for Serbia's Russian majority-owned oil company NIS - which is under US sanctions - to be found by the end of this week.

The most important thing is to keep NIS and the oil refinery working, Djedovic Handanovic said.

"We are in talks with all sides, we are also in contact with the Russian partners and we have conducted open and transparent discussions. That means that we want to find a solution and support a solution they propose, be it talks with a third party or talks with us. We are absolutely open to everything," she told Pink TV.

Djedovic Handanovic said citizens and businesses had no reason to worry and that there was enough fuel at petrol stations.

"The citizens have absolutely no reason to worry, which does not mean that we who are in the government and at the helm of the state are not worried," the minister said, noting that Serbia's problem regarding NIS was a result of an "ongoing geopolitical war."