Djedovic Handanovic: Washington's response about NIS licence due "today or tonight"

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Wednesday Washington's response to a request for a new operating licence for Serbia's Russian majority-owned oil company NIS was due "today or tonight."

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, Djedovic Handanovic said they had discussed the current situation regarding the US sanctions on NIS.

"What is certain and what we know is that the Russian owners must exit ownership and that that, above all, is the demand that must be met for the sanctions to be lifted," she said, adding that a new licence would enable NIS to keep operating until the conclusion of talks on a change of ownership of the company.