"This thing with MOL isn't going great," says president of Serbia

Collage: Shutterstock

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that the situation around the negotiations regarding the oil sector in Serbia and NIS (acquisition of majority stake in Petroleum Industry of Serbia, NIS) is not at all simple, stating that the talks with MOL "are not going great" - but that Serbia hopes that the US administration will show understanding when it comes to "possible sanctions".

Recommended

According to Vucic, the world is in a serious economic crisis, which he says is much broader than the problems concerning the oil market and the energy crisis.

Speaking about the current negotiations (for MOL to acquire a majority stake in NIS) and the US-imposed deadline that expires on May 22, Vucic said that Serbia is "trying to find a sustainable solution" but that he is not sure of a positive outcome.

"For us, this thing with MOL is not going well, it is not going great. We will always leave the possibility for things to be done properly, but I am not too optimistic," Vucic said on Wednesday afternoon.

He added that he expects the US Treasury Department's OFAC to "understand Serbia's position".

"I hope that the American OFAC will understand Serbia's position and that Serbia will neither be guilty nor liable to be punished, and I ask them to understand that," said the president of Serbia.

He added that the situation is far more complicated than the public can see and that "serious political and business games are being played behind the scenes".

"If I were to say everything I know about all that happened over the last year, you could make a movie out of it, just realizing who is deceiving us, lying to us, the games that are being played, what is behind the scenes," said Vucic.

He then stressed that Serbia "will endire everything, ensure progress and fight for its citizens."

(Telegraf Biznis)