March 27 (Reuters) - Serbia risks losing access to vital

oil imports from Friday as discussions to prevent the imposition

of U.S. sanctions on the country's sole oil refinery have

failed, President Aleksandar Vucic said in a published

interview.

A waiver on sanctions is due to expire at midnight and, if

not extended, the NIS refinery, majority-owned by

Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, could

face crude supply cuts.

NIS operates Serbia's only oil refinery, which has annual

capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan

country's energy needs.

Vucic was quoted by Britain's Financial Times newspaper on

Thursday as saying he did not expect a last-minute deal.

"We've been talking to the Americans, to the Russians, to

everybody" about finding a solution, Vucic told the FT in

Belgrade. "We didn't see any changes in the American attitude."

He was expected to address the Serbian public about the

situation later on Thursday.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control

(OFAC) initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on

January 10 and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of

NIS.

After the first request by NIS for a sanctions waiver, the

OFAC delayed sanctions for 30 days on February 27 to allow NIS

to find a solution with the Russian companies. On February 26,

Gazprom Neft transferred stakes of around 5.15% in NIS to

Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions.

The changes mean Gazprom Neft, now subject to more severe

Western sanctions due to its heavier focus on oil income, no

longer has an absolute majority in NIS. They echoed a move in

2022 that allowed Gazprom Neft at the time to avoid European

Union sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Gazprom Neft now owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom - whose

income comes mainly from gas - has 11.3%. The Serbian government

holds a further 29.87% of stakes, with small shareholders

accounting for the remainder.

NIS imports about 80% of its needs through Croatia's

pipeline operator Janaf, with the remainder covered by its own

crude oil output in Serbia. In 2024 the two companies agreed on

the transport of 10 million tons of crude oil by December 2026.

Earlier this month, Economy Minister Ante Susnjar of

Croatia, an EU member state, said Janaf was considering the

purchase of all of Russia's stake in NIS.