NIS Gets Up to 66,000 Tonnes of State Crude; Fuel Excise Cut to 22 Nov

Serbia's caretaker government on Friday, 13 November, approved the supply of up to 66,000 tonnes of crude oil from state reserves to Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS). The decision answers a request NIS made the evening before, after deliveries through the Croatian JANAF pipeline, the only route by which crude reaches the company's refinery in Pančevo, were interrupted. On the same day the government extended the temporary 25% cut in fuel excise duty by one week, to 22 November.

Why the Pančevo refinery needs state oil

In its statement, carried by Tanjug, the government said the aim was to keep the Pančevo refinery, Serbia's only refinery, operating without interruption and the market regularly supplied, so that citizens would not feel the effects of the damage to the pipeline. It stressed that there is no alternative to the JANAF supply route and that the refinery cannot work without it. The government told the public there was no reason to worry and no need to stock up on fuel.

JANAF stopped pumping crude on 6 November after an accident on the Sisak–Slavonski Brod section of the pipeline in Croatia. No date for resuming deliveries had been announced by Friday evening.

What is not yet known

The government statement did not say whether NIS will pay for the crude or return it later, how long the arrangement will last, or how many days of refinery operation 66,000 tonnes will cover. It also did not give the size of the remaining state reserves. NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom and operates under US sanctions with a licence, had not commented on the decision by Friday evening.

Fuel excise cut extended to 22 November

The Finance Ministry confirmed to the Beta news agency that the 25% reduction in excise duty on petroleum products, which was due to expire on 15 November, will now run until 22 November. According to N1, excise under the reduced rate amounts to roughly 0.46 to 0.49 euros per litre, depending on the fuel. The cut was first introduced in March and has since been renewed repeatedly, usually for one or two weeks at a time.

Both decisions were taken by a government in a technical mandate. Longer-term choices on fuel taxation and supply security are expected to fall to the new cabinet, which the Student List majority must form after the new parliament is constituted on 17 November.