(Adds quotes from President Vucic, details, background)
BELGRADE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Serbia's Russian-owned NIS oil refinery, which is sanctioned by the United States, will be operational on January 17 or 18 after receiving a temporary licence, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control granted NIS a temporary operating licence until January 23, enabling it to resume production after a 36-day break.
The US has given NIS, which owns Serbia's only oil refinery, until March 24 to negotiate the divestment of its Russian owners' stake.
«I expect the first 85,000 tons of crude oil to arrive by January 15th ... and for the refinery to start operating on January 17th or 18th, and to start producing oil derivatives from January 25th or 26th,» Vucic told reporters in Belgrade.
Russia's Gazprom has an 11.3% stake in NIS, while its sanctioned oil unit Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM) holds 44.9%. The Serbian government has 29.9%, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees.
The Serbian government said it supports ongoing sale talks between NIS's Russian owners and Hungary's MOL.
The US imposed sanctions on NIS in October as part of broader measures against Russia's energy sector, after granting a series of waivers since the beginning of last year.
The sanctions had halted crude supplies via Croatia's JANAF (JANF.ZA) pipeline, shutting down the NIS refinery in the northern town of Pancevo.
This week, JANAF said it had also received a licence allowing it to export crude oil to NIS. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; editing by Hugh Lawson and Christina Fincher)
