(MENAFN) Serbia faces mounting pressure from the United States to remove Russian ownership from its only oil refinery, Energy Minister Dubravka Dedovic Handanovic said on Saturday.

The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), which operates the refinery, was hit by US sanctions last month, causing banks to stop processing transactions and halting deliveries through Serbia’s main crude supply route, the JANAF pipeline in Croatia. Reports indicate the refinery can only operate until November 25 without new supplies.

Russian energy companies Gazprom and Gazprom Neft hold a combined 56% of NIS, while the Serbian government owns around 30%. NIS requested a temporary waiver from the US to continue operations while seeking new ownership arrangements, but the US allowed only a three-month window to find buyers and did not permit continued operation, the minister said.

Serbia was “not given even a single day for NIS to continue operating,” Dedovic Handanovic noted, adding, “The American administration has, for the first time, stated clearly and unequivocally that it wants a complete change in the ownership held by Russian shareholders.”

Belgrade is set to make “some of the most difficult decisions in history” at a government meeting including President Aleksandar Vucic and heads of major state companies. Options include nationalizing NIS and negotiating compensation for Russian shareholders.

Both the US and EU have called on Serbia to reduce its historically close ties with Russia, a stance Belgrade has resisted. Washington has emphasized its goal of pushing Russia out of the European energy market, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright stating in September that the US is prepared to “displace” Russian oil and gas imports.

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