Djedovic Handanovic: Diplomatic discussions about solution for NIS to be continued

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Wednesday her ministry, the Serbian MFA and President Aleksandar Vucic had waged an intense diplomatic battle this year, securing as many as eight extensions of an operating licence for the oil company NIS - which is under US sanctions due to its Russian majority ownership - and that diplomatic discussions to find an acceptable solution would be continued.

"That is what NIS and its majority stakeholder, Gazprom neft, above all, are doing to find a satisfactory solution to create the conditions to lift the US sanctions. We will see whether they will succeed in that," Djedovic Handanovic told a panel on Serbia's energy security, held at an Ambassadorial Conference hosted by the Serbian MFA in Belgrade.

She said Serbia must ensure its energy security and safety, and added that she expected the issue to be resolved in the coming weeks.

Djedovic Handanovic said she hoped the solution would enable Serbia to be a fair and loyal partner that demonstrated that any investor that came to the country could feel safe, "and that we will not be a part of those countries that have taken someone's property away, but that we will act responsibly and make decisions that will protect us and our interests above all, and then also investors in our country."