Low cost carrier Wizz Air has stopped refuelling its aircraft at its base at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport over United States imposed sanctions targeting Russia’s oil sector, which will extend onto Serbia’s largest energy company and Belgrade Airport’s sole fuel provider NIS on February 27. The majority stake in NIS is held by Russian companies - Gazprom Neft (50%) and Gazprom (6.15%), while 29.87% of the shares are owned by the Serbian government. Changes in ownership within the company are expected within forty days, with the transaction to be finalised within an additional ten days. Until then, Wizz Air will refuel its Belgrade operated flights at bases in Timisoara and Budapest. The decision caused several diversions on Tuesday and Wednesday, mostly on Wizz Air’s Belgrade bound evening flights, with aircraft refuelling elsewhere before continuing to the Serbian capital. Today’s operations, so far, have been unaffected bar delays caused by yesterday’s diversion.
Wizz Air, which has some of its shares owned by US equity firm Indigo Partners, has said the decision has had no impact on its Belgrade operations. “Wizz Air confirms that recent sanctions against the fuel provider have no impact on the airline’s schedule. The sanctions fall within the domain of legal matters and the airline will not comment further on the matter”, the carrier said. Back in 2019, it was reported that NIS supplies fuel to Air Serbia, Aeroflot, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways at Belgrade Airport. Three of those carriers no longer serve the Serbian capital. NIS also operates an aviation fuel control laboratory at Belgrade Airport. In a statement, Belgrade Airport said, “At the moment, in accordance with current regulations, NIS is the supplier of fuel for all flights at Belgrade Airport. This situation has no significant impact on air traffic”.
US representatives in Belgrade have emphasised that the measures are not aimed at Serbia but at Russian entities that use oil revenues to finance the ongoing war in Ukraine. On January 14, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Serbia to hold consultations regarding a potential buyout of Gazprom Neft’s assets in NIS. Belgrade has indicated that several potential solutions are feasible, including transferring shares to other private entities, repurchasing them by the Serbian government, or the compulsory renationalisation of the company, which was sold to Gazprom in 2008. The government has expressed a preference to avoid the latter scenario. Serbian media have reported that Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and the UK-based Shell have expressed interest in acquiring NIS. Serbia remains dependent on gas imports from Russia, with the current supply contract due to expire in March.