Minister Djedovic Handanovic: Serbia must ensure its energy security and safety

Photo: MRE

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said today that her ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic this year waged an intense diplomatic battle and won as many as eight extensions of the license for Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), a company which is under US sanctions.

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She added that they will continue with diplomatic talks in order to find an acceptable solution.

"This is being primarily done by Petroleum Industry of Serbia and its majority owner Gazprom Neft, to find a satisfactory solution in order to create the conditions for the lifting of US sanctions. We will see if they will succeed in that. Of course, we wish them luck and we are here to listen, to hear and to understand what deadlines are ahead of us, in order to manage to secure enough EuroDiesel and gasoline and all types of energy we need so that our citizens and our country can have a stable and safe supply," Djedovic Handanovic said at a panel held today in Belgrade as part of the Ambassadors' Conference, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The minister pointed out that Serbia must ensure its energy security and safety and that she expects the final resolution of this issue in the coming weeks.

Djedovic Handanovic also stated that she hopes it will be such that will allow Serbia be act as a fair and loyal partner, that shows any investor who comes to this country can feel safe.

"And that we will not be among those countries that steal someone's property, but we will behave responsibly and make such decisions that will above all protect us and our interests, but then also protect investors in our country," said the minister.

She assessed that energy supply is a first-rate security issue, as it enables for other national interests to be realized, and that energy security is in fact a key national security issue.

"It's the same with our country. During global tensions, crises and realignments, the geopolitical pulse is best felt precisely when it comes to energy issues. There is no sector that currently better shows how geopolitical relations, forces, friendships, interests, but also the future balance of power shift, than the field of energy. This can be seen, of course, in the example of our country, which has been put in a very difficult position through no fault of its own, which is that for two and a half months we have had almost no supply of crude oil because of US sanctions against a Russian company that manages certain assets in our country," said Djedovic Handanovic.

(Telegraf Biznis/Tanjug)