In Serbia, Gazprom announced negotiations on the sale of a stake in NIS

On December 30, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botan-Kharchenko confirmed that Gazprom Neft was negotiating the sale of a controlling stake in the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) to a third party.

"Negotiations are currently underway. Yes, negotiations are underway, I can confirm this," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The diplomat clarified that he himself does not participate in the negotiations, but only participates in meetings with Serbian President Alexander Vucic, which are also attended by First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov.

Nuclear facility: Russia and Serbia have begun negotiations on the construction of a nuclear power plant

What will be the first nuclear power plant in the Balkan republic and who is competing with Rosatom for this contract?

On November 15, Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Jedovic-Handanovic announced that the United States had demanded Russia's withdrawal from ownership of NIS as a condition for lifting sanctions against it. According to the minister, the Serbian authorities have received an extremely harsh signal from Washington.

Alexander Vulin, the founder of the Movement of Socialists party and former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, said on December 7 that pro-European members of the Serbian government and opposition are demanding the nationalization of the Russian-Serbian NIS company, but this issue can only be resolved through an agreement with Russia. He stressed that Vucic and most of the country's citizens remember the importance of honor and memory, otherwise "NIS would have been returned long ago," and Serbia would have sought its way to the EU through the sale of weapons to Ukraine and sending troops to minefields.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.