The Serbian oil refinery NIS, owned by Russia and sanctioned by the United States, will start operating on January 17 or 18 after receiving a temporary license, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Sunday, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued NIS a temporary operating license until January 23, allowing it to resume production after a 36-day hiatus.
The U.S. gave NIS, which owns the only oil refinery in Serbia, until March 24 to negotiate the sale of the Russian owners' stake.
"I expect the first 85,000 tons of crude oil to arrive by January 15... and that the refinery will start operating on January 17 or 18, and the production of petroleum products will begin on January 25 or 26," Vučić told reporters in Belgrade.
Russian Gazprom owns 11.3% of NIS shares, while its sanctioned oil company Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%. The Serbian government has 29.9%, the remaining shares belong to small shareholders and employees.
The Serbian government said it supports sale negotiations between NIS's Russian owners and Hungarian MOL.
The U.S. sanctioned NIS in October as part of broader measures against Russia's energy sector, after granting a number of exceptions since early last year.
The sanctions halted oil supplies through the Croatian JANAF pipeline, leading to the closure of the NIS refinery in the northern city of Pančevo.
JANAF said this week it had also received a license allowing it to export oil to NIS.