BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The United States has introduced sanctions against Serbia’s main oil supplier, which is controlled by Russia, the company said Thursday. Serbia's president said this could have “unforeseeable” consequences for the Balkan country.
Serbia depends almost entirely on Russian gas and oil supplies, which it receives mainly through pipelines in Croatia and other neighboring states. The gas is then distributed by Petroleum Industry of Serbia, or NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia’s state oil monopoly Gazprom Neft.
The sanctions could deprive Serbia of gasoline and heating oil ahead of the winter months.
Populist President Aleksandar Vucic is already under pressure at home from 11 months of anti-government protests. He said the sanctions will have “extremely dire consequences” in many aspects: “This is something that will affect every citizen.”
Vucic said Serbia will continue talks with both American and Russian officials. He said the government is prepared for the situation and urged people not to panic.
“Trust your state. We will go through this together,” he said.
NIS said Thursday it had failed to secure another postponement of the U.S. sanctions, which could jeopardize its efforts to secure oil and gas deliveries in a longer term.
“The special license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which enables unhindered operational business, has not yet been extended,” NIS said in a statement. It added that it has stored enough supplies to keep the operation moving for customers for a longer while.
It also said problems could occur at NIS gasoline stations with payments made by foreign bank cards but added that cash payments would be accepted.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control originally placed sanctions on Russia’s oil sector on Jan. 10 and gave Gazprom Neft a deadline to exit ownership of NIS, which it didn’t do. There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials.
Gazprom Neft also owns Serbia’s only oil refinery.
Analysts say that Serbia is collateral damage in a power game between Russia and the U.S.
“Had the Russians agreed to sell their share, none of these things with sanctions would have happened,” said Aleksandar Milosevic, a Serbian economic analyst.
“But Russians do not want to sell. They are more ready to accept all the financial consequences coming from the sanctions than to actually show weakness and sell NIS,” he said. “So this is a political game between Russia and the United States and Serbia is kind of, basically, an irrelevant player in all that.”
Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion in Ukraine, in part because of the crucial Russian gas deliveries.
The country's pro-Russian leader is facing one of the biggest threats to more than a decade of his increasingly autocratic rule. Protests have been held by university students and others since the collapse almost a year ago of a concrete canopy at a railway station in the country’s north that killed 16 people.
Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption and nepotism among state officials led to sloppy work on the building reconstruction, which was part of a wider railroad project with Chinese state companies.
Associated Press journalists Jovana Gec and Ivana Bzganovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.
A view of Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) oil refinery in Pancevo, Serbia, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
People fill fuel in cars at a petrol station in Pancevo, Serbia, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
FILE - NIS Jugopetrol oil refinery in Pancevo, Serbia, Dec. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.
Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges," according to the nation's electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.
The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the electoral commission. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.
Impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays Thursday morning. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.
“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do," he said.
Wine alleged there was electoral fraud occurring, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming there was “ballot stuffing.”
“Our leaders, including Deputy President for Western Region, arrested. Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” Wine wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Museveni told journalists he was notfied biometric machines were inoperable at some stations and he supported the electoral body's decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on the allegation of fraud.
Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.
Nganda also noted biometric machines were malfunctioning, in addition to the late arrival of balloting materials, and predicted the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support.
"It’s going to be chaos,” he said Thursday morning.
Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. Some critics say removing him through elections remains difficult, but the aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.
The lead-up to Thursday's election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and opposition strategies to prevent vote tampering at polling stations.
Uganda's internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.
There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.
Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.
Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.
“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.
The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.
“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right."
Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”
Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.
Uganda opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, right, greets election observers, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, at his home in Magere village on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Billboards of Uganda President and National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni are seen in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)
Electoral workers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Voters are reflected in a police officer's sunglasses as they wait in line after voting failed to start on time due to system failures during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Voters wait to cast their ballots during the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
