ICCK Transactions on Electric Power Networks and Systems
ISSN: 3070-2607 (Online)
Email: [email protected]
Submit Manuscript
Edit a Special Issue
TY - JOUR AU - Klimenta, Dardan PY - 2026 DA - 2026/01/08 TI - Can U.S. Economic Sanctions against the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS JSC Novi Sad) Cause Blackouts of Electric Power Systems in the Western Balkan Countries? JO - ICCK Transactions on Electric Power Networks and Systems T2 - ICCK Transactions on Electric Power Networks and Systems JF - ICCK Transactions on Electric Power Networks and Systems VL - 2 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 6 DO - 10.62762/TEPNS.2026.765529 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/TEPNS.2026.765529 KW - electric power system KW - electricity blackout KW - electricity generation company KW - stability of electricity supply AB - U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed sanctions on Russian petroleum companies in January 2025, but for the petroleum industry of Serbia (NIS JSC Novi Sad), they were postponed repeatedly before finally took effect on October 9, 2025. In particular, PJSC Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of NIS JSC Novi Sad, followed by Serbian government with 29.87%, JSC Intelligence with 11.3%, and small shareholders with 13.98%. Because of this, Pančevo Oil Refinery ran out of crude oil and stopped its operation on December 2, 2025. However, NIS JSC Novi Sad produces not only petroleum derivatives but also significant amounts of electricity. Part of this electricity is used by NIS JSC Novi Sad in various production processes, while the surplus is sold to the state-owned Joint Stock Company Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS JSC) and other foreign companies. In 2024, NIS JSC Novi Sad sold a total of 1124.864 GWh to EPS JSC and other companies. This is 3.53% of the total electricity generation of EPS JSC in the same year. In addition to the aforementioned OFAC sanctions, electricity blackouts (power outages) occurred in the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia) on June 21, 2024, as well as in Spain and Portugal on April 28, 2025. It seems that the occurrence of such electricity blackouts is becoming a reality that European countries will face in the future. In this regard, it is obvious that OFAC sanctions affect the security of electricity supply in Serbia and may contribute to creating preconditions for an electricity blackout. Although the 2024 blackout did not spread to Serbia, under such circumstances, a subsequent electricity blackout could involve an even larger number of countries in the Western Balkans and beyond. Therefore, this editorial aims to encourage researchers to think and write about how economic sanctions on petroleum companies that generate electricity can affect the stability of electricity supply and cause blackouts. SN - 3070-2607 PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
@article{Klimenta2026Can,
author = {Dardan Klimenta},
title = {Can U.S. Economic Sanctions against the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS JSC Novi Sad) Cause Blackouts of Electric Power Systems in the Western Balkan Countries?},
journal = {ICCK Transactions on Electric Power Networks and Systems},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {1},
pages = {1-6},
doi = {10.62762/TEPNS.2026.765529},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/TEPNS.2026.765529},
abstract = {U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed sanctions on Russian petroleum companies in January 2025, but for the petroleum industry of Serbia (NIS JSC Novi Sad), they were postponed repeatedly before finally took effect on October 9, 2025. In particular, PJSC Gazprom Neft owns 44.85\% of NIS JSC Novi Sad, followed by Serbian government with 29.87\%, JSC Intelligence with 11.3\%, and small shareholders with 13.98\%. Because of this, Pančevo Oil Refinery ran out of crude oil and stopped its operation on December 2, 2025. However, NIS JSC Novi Sad produces not only petroleum derivatives but also significant amounts of electricity. Part of this electricity is used by NIS JSC Novi Sad in various production processes, while the surplus is sold to the state-owned Joint Stock Company Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS JSC) and other foreign companies. In 2024, NIS JSC Novi Sad sold a total of 1124.864 GWh to EPS JSC and other companies. This is 3.53\% of the total electricity generation of EPS JSC in the same year. In addition to the aforementioned OFAC sanctions, electricity blackouts (power outages) occurred in the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia) on June 21, 2024, as well as in Spain and Portugal on April 28, 2025. It seems that the occurrence of such electricity blackouts is becoming a reality that European countries will face in the future. In this regard, it is obvious that OFAC sanctions affect the security of electricity supply in Serbia and may contribute to creating preconditions for an electricity blackout. Although the 2024 blackout did not spread to Serbia, under such circumstances, a subsequent electricity blackout could involve an even larger number of countries in the Western Balkans and beyond. Therefore, this editorial aims to encourage researchers to think and write about how economic sanctions on petroleum companies that generate electricity can affect the stability of electricity supply and cause blackouts.},
keywords = {electric power system, electricity blackout, electricity generation company, stability of electricity supply},
issn = {3070-2607},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
Copyright © 2026 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. 
ICCK Transactions on Electric Power Networks and Systems
ISSN: 3070-2607 (Online)
Email: [email protected]
Portico
All published articles are preserved here permanently:
https://www.portico.org/publishers/icck/