Serbia to try to replace Russian oil with Iranian from November due to sanctions

Serbia won’t be able to buy Russian oil from November 1 due to EU sanctions, so it will try to replace it with oil from Iran or some other, deputy prime minister, Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic said in an interview with Tanjug agency, Report informs citing TASS.

Mihajlovic said that before the sanctions, Serbia bought 25% of Russian oil, 20% was its own production, and the rest was Iraqi oil from Kirkuk.

“From November 1, we will no longer import Russian oil, but we will first of all have oil from Kirkuk, we will have our own oil, and the rest will be Iranian oil or some other oil,” she noted.

At the same time, the minister acknowledged that after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, oil prices rose, except for Russian oil. In this regard, in recent months, Serbia has been buying 55% of its oil from Russia.

On June 14, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that due to EU sanctions against Russia, $600 million had to be spent on oil from Kirkuk, since it is $31 per barrel more expensive.