Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic pointed out on Tuesday that the country would lose $600 million (Rs 4661 Crores) a year due to embargoes imposed by the European Union on Russian oil. Vucic pointed out that Serbia will not be able to use Russian oil due to the partial oil embargo imposed by the EU on Russia and added that it will have to import oil from other countries, EuroIntegration reported citing Serbia RTS. The Serbian president’s statement came after the European Union recently announced the sixth round of sanctions against Russia.

Aleksandar Vucic further noted that they import Russian oil by sea and via Croatia. He said importing oil from Iraq costs Serbia $31 a barrel more. He went on to point out that they had to spend extra money to buy gasoline. Vucic added that Serbia will buy 500 million cubic meters of gas from Hungary before July 1, in accordance with the EuroIntegration. He further informed that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Hungarian Foreign Minister will travel to Belgrade on Friday June 10 to sign the agreement. The Serbian leader stressed that they will ensure the supply of natural gas for more than 100 days or throughout the winter.

Earlier on June 5, the Serbian Ministry of Mines and Energy said oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije would not be able to receive Russian crude oil via the Adriatic Oil Pipeline (JANAF), N1 reported. Serbia is not the only country that will be affected by the new barrage of sanctions imposed by the EU, according to the Serbian Ministry of Mines and Energy. The ministry assured that it was making every effort to ensure an adequate supply of oil. He further noted that the new sanctions package prohibits the supply of Russian crude oil through ports and that the NIS will no longer be able to import crude oil from Russia. According to N1 report, the ministry said it would work to increase crude oil inventory and ensure that “stable reserves of petroleum products provide additional security in the event of market disruptions.”

EU adopts 6th set of sanctions against Russia

The European Union notably adopted new sanctions against Russia and Belarus in response to the Russian military offensive in Ukraine. The EU, in the sixth sanctions package, banned the purchase, import or transfer of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia to the EU. In addition, a SWIFT ban was announced for three other Russian banks and one Belarusian. The Council of the EU announced the suspension of the broadcasting of three other Russian public channels in the EU. In addition, the European Union has decided to impose sanctions against 18 entities and 65 individuals.

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