Serbia May ‘Overpay’ to Buy Out Gazprom from NIS, President Says

Workera at a NIS refining complex, operated by Gazprom PJSC, in Pancevo, Serbia.

Photographer: Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg

Serbia is willing to pay a premium to regain control of oil refiner NIS AD as it seeks ways to unshackle the Russian-owned company from crippling US sanctions, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday.

NIS’s owners, units of Russia’s Gazprom PJSC, are in talks with third-party investors from Asia and Europe who could potentially take it over, Vucic said in a live broadcast of a government meeting in Belgrade to discuss ways to resolve the dilemma.