Srbija i Ukrajina

https://www.ft.com/content/c482f62a-2977-458d-b74c-0ff71be2cdf2?shareType=nongift

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Balkan exemption 

The EU is working on clarifying its sanctions regime against Russia to enable countries in the Western Balkans continue buying Russian fossil fuels. The move comes after Serbia complained that it was facing fuel supply uncertainties stemming from the restrictions, write Marton Dunai in Budapest and Valentina Pop in Brussels. EU’s latest round of sanctions prohibit engaging in any transaction with companies outside the EU that are more than 50 per cent owned by one of a dozen Russian groups, including Gazpromneft — which holds 51 per cent of Serbia’s only oil refiner and national fuel company, NIS. The rules de facto ban NIS from buying Russian crude from its usual intermediaries, such as Glencore (Anglo-Swiss) or Vitol (Dutch). 

 Officials in Brussels are now working on applying the same rules as EU member states (who can still carry out transactions for the supply of Russian fossil fuels), given that geographically, the Western Balkans are an enclave surrounded by EU countries, said a person familiar with the matter. In Serbia, Gazpromneft bought the NIS stake in 2008 for just under €1bn, which included hefty investments in the outdated infrastructure. Russia also included Serbia in the southern gas corridor and undertook the building of an underground storage facility in the country at Banatski Dvor.

 All of that infrastructure now makes landlocked Serbia even more dependent on Russian energy, and the government of president Aleksandar Vucic, who is facing elections in less than two weeks, was shocked at what it saw as a move with a potential impact on the elections exacerbating the effect of already surging fuel prices. “The essence is that Europeans have left the possibility to import and export from Russia on their territory, but that third countries cannot import oil if companies or refineries are majority owned by Russia,” Vucic told Serbian media. “They did not punish the Russians, they did not punish themselves: they punished us.”

 “Currently we are in contact with Serbian authorities to clarify any concerns they may have related to the application and consequences of restrictive measures,” said commission spokesman Peter Stano. “We are working with all our partners in the Western Balkans to alleviate the impact of the war on their economy and society.” 

 The legal amendments will be subject to approval by all 27 governments and some capitals are already expressing unease at the prospect of helping Serbia after it refused to align with western sanctions. “This would be fair in the case of countries like North Macedonia that fully align with EU sanctions and therefore shoulder some of the cost on their own economy,” said one EU diplomat. “But Serbia hardly aligning with sanctions and wanting an exemption is really beyond the pale.”