The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted on 23 December 2019 the Law on amendments and supplements to the Law on games of chance (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 91/2019) (hereinafter referred to as the “Law”).

As with each year, December was one of the busiest months and the Serbian Parliament was especially industrious. The aforementioned resulted in adoption of a very welcome set of amendments to the Serbia’s Company Act by the Serbian Parliament.

JPM Jankovic Popovic Mitic provided legal support to Gastrans d.o.o., Serbia (a 100% subsidiary of a OAO Gazprom and Srbijagas joint venture) on the construction of Gazprom's 400 km long Turkish Stream gas pipeline through Serbia, which Srbijagas Director Dusan Bajatovic has recently declared complete.

On 3 August 2019, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia has adopted the long-awaited amendments to the Enforcement and Security Act (“Act”), which entered into force on 1 January 2020. Having in mind the extent of amendments (more than 170 Articles), we can say the we practically have a new Enforcement and Security Act.

Mirko Lalatovic has become Head of Compliance for South Eastern Central Europe at Fresenius Medical Care.

Republic of Serbia (“RS”) has recently amended its tax law provisions on individual income tax by adopting Act on Amendments of the Individual Tax Act, published in the Official Gazette of the RS, No. 86/2019 (“Act”). Among many changes, the one that attracts the most attention is the inclusion of a test on “dependence” and its influence on the tax status of entrepreneurs. The Act sets out the criteria which are to be applied by the tax authorities (“TA”) to determine cases in which the entrepreneur is not actually independent from his client. Entrepreneurs that do not pass this test will be similarly treated as if they were employees, and will, therefore, be subject to a different tax regime.

CMS has advised Britain’s Poseidon Group and Belgium’s Mitiska REIM on the divestment of Capitol Park Rakovica, the largest retail park in Belgrade, to Israel’s BIG CEE Group. Cvetkovic, Skoko & Jovicic advised BIG CEE on the transaction, which closed in December 2019.

Since 2013 and adoption of the Rulebook on conditions of breeding of Cannabis Sativa L, a.k.a industrial hemp, the Republic of Serbia acknowledged its production and cast a new light on domestic agriculture. Even though industrial hemp has been a prodigy to older generations for its miraculous multi-purpose benefits, younger generations often misplace it for marijuana, derived from a similar sort – Indian hemp. Regrettably, a similar misunderstanding in regards to its effects is often made by competent state authorities.

Former Counsel Sasa Stojanovic has been promoted to Partner at BDK Advokati.

BDK Advokati has advised Biomin GmbH on the acquisition of Vinfeed doo, a Serbian distributor of animal nutrition products. The unidentified sellers were advised by Samardzic, Oreski, & Grbovic.

The Commission for the Protection of Competition has published its first leniency decision in a cartel case, following a report by one of the cartel participants.

BDK Advokati and JPM have helped Decathlon, a sporting goods retailer, open its first outlet store in Serbia.

“There are no major movements between firms, or any new firms popping up," says Petar Mitrovic, Partner at Karanovic & Partners in Belgrade, about the Serbian legal market. “There have been some movements, some partners leaving their law offices and moving to the private sector, but nothing worth writing home about."

Serbian National Parliament adopted Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 128/2014, hereinafter “APW”) on December 4th, 2014, rightfully recognizing that whistleblowers are essential elements of an ethical social and economic environment and hence deserve additional institutional protection (especially because of their exposure to employers’ retaliation).

BDK Advokati has advised Eldorado Gold on the sale of its two Serbian mining companies, Tara Gold and South Danube Metals, to Ibaera Capital, an Australian PE focused on exploration and project development. Ibaera Capital was advised by PWC Legal.

Serbia's Doklestic Repic & Gajin has announced that it has established a correspondent law office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the form of that city's Karabdic Law Office.

On October 10, 2019 the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on Alternative Investment Funds and Law on Open-Ended Investment Funds with a Public Offering, where both of the laws came into force on October 19, 2019 and will become applicable on April 20, 2020.

Milica Savic, a former Senior Associate at Karanovic & Partners, has been promoted to Partner in the firm's Belgrade office.