Russia’s gas cutoff threat sends “very bad signal” to Serbia, says president

In a phone interview with TV Informer, Vučić explained that he had expected a three-year gas supply contract to be signed back in May and that the Serbian side had been “more than fair and honest” in negotiations, according to Radio Slobodna Evropa.

“They want to tell us: ‘If you start nationalizing NIS or anything else, we can cut off gas on December 31.’ And this is a very, very bad signal for me in every sense. Not because we planned to nationalize, because if we did, we wouldn’t face sanctions,” Vučić said.

According to Vučić, U.S. officials suggested Serbia nationalize NIS to avoid sanctions, but he refused.

As for Russia, he plans to meet with them and propose “new ideas” regarding the sanctioned company, though he did not specify what those ideas are.

• U.S. sanctions against the company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) began on Thursday, October 9. 
• NIS was added to the U.S. sanctions list due to the so-called “secondary risk,” as Russia owns the controlling stake through Gazprom Neft.