Serbia's NIS appoints former Russian ambassador as board member

Belgrade, July 31 - Neftegaz.RU. Serbian blue-chip oil and gas company NIS appointed former Russian ambassador to Serbia Alexander Chepurin as independent member of its board of directors, Seenews reported.

Chepurin's appointment was approved by the NIS board of directors during a meeting on June 26, the company said in an interim financial report for the 2nd quarter of 2019, posted on its website.

Chepurin was Russian ambassador to Serbia between November 2012 and June 26, 2019.

NIS, 56.15%-owned by Gazprom, is one of the largest vertically integrated oil and gas companies in Southeast Europe. The company recorded a net profit of 3.2 billion dinars ($30.2 million/27.2 million euro) in the 1st half of 2019, sharply down from 11.5 billion dinars in the like period of last year.

Its main activities include the exploration, production and processing of oil and gas, as well as the production and retail trade with a wide range of petroleum products. Serbia's government owns a 29.87% stake in NIS.