In the last five years significant changes have occurred in the Serbian business and political environment. This has been a time of dramatic change – with the general goal of transforming the position and the image of Serbia both regionally and globally, strongly affirming a pro-EU stance and making Serbia much more attractive for foreign investment. Obviously, both of these goals are interconnected because improving the image of a country brings more investments, and foreign investors generating profits in Serbia improves Serbia’s global image.

BDK Advokati has advised Dnata, a global corporation based in the United Arab Emirates, on the acquisition of all the shares in Serbian EAP Shared Services d.o.o. from Etihad Airport Services LLC. Samardzic, Oreski & Grbovic advised Etihad Airport Services on the deal.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia has, on 8 June 2018, adopted the Amendments to the Companies Act (“the Amendments”).  As already observed, the provisions set out under the Amendments represent an answer to adjusting to the current business needs in Serbia.

The Rulebook on Registers governing by Serbian Chambers of Commerce (the Rulebook) has been adopted. In accordance with the Serbian Medical Devices Act, three new registers will be established:

The Serbian Government has adopted the Bill on Lobbying (the Bill) and submitted it to the Serbian Parliament. The Bill is expected to be in the parliamentary debate in the Parliament’s Fall Session.

Commercial Court of Appeals has finally aligned its court practice related to change of the litigant in the procedure in case of assignment of the claim, with the regional court practice, thus making the NPL market in Serbia more attractive.

National Alliance for Local Economic Development (“NALED”) has submitted its proposal for the changes of the flat-rate taxation system to the National Coordination Body for Battling Underground Economy (“NCB”).  This Government body will review the proposed changes, which would substantially alter the system of flat-rate taxation of independent contractors (i.e. individual entrepreneurs) as it exists now, and have a particular impact on certain industries which rely on it to a great extent, such as the IT sector.

Need for Transparency

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia has on 20 April 2018 adopted amendments to the Foreign Exchange Operations Act (“FEXO”) in order to meet the requirements stemming from the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union.  These provisions, now allow, amongst other things, for the free movement of capital related to portfolio investments and short-term finance loans and credits.

Although Serbian Constitution introduces the general principle of equality between Serbian nationals and foreigners, in certain domains it allows for this proclaimed equality to be limited through laws.

EU’s General Data Protection Regulative (GDPR) comes into force on May 25.

In order to speed up turnover of funds in the Serbian economy, the Serbian parliament enacted a piece of legislation in 2012 regulating the terms of payment in commercial transactions, including ones in which public sector entities are debtors, and regulating the public sector’s obligation to register the received invoices – the Act on Terms of Payment in Commercial Transactions (the “Act”).

Closing of Chapter 27: Environment is one of the most difficult and expensive challenges Serbia faces on its EU accession path.

Offering of securities to company employees through some form of employee profit sharing plan is a common way for companies around the world to reward their top managers and employees.

Biomass represents the most widespread source of energy in Serbia, making for around 60% of the total potential renewable energy resources.  However, national biomass estimations indicate that it is not sufficiently exploited.  In order to increase the share of biomass, Serbia is investing significant efforts in the development of this valuable energy resource.

On 20 October 2017, Serbian Business Registry Agency (the “SBRA”) initiated a nationwide process of statutory winding-up of all companies which operate and exist contrary to the Serbian Companies Act (the “Act”).

A very controversial topic in the modern workplace pertains to the issue of monitoring workplace internet and telephone use by the employer. 

In recent years, making payments via an escrow account in Serbia has become a much more widely used method of payment in M&A transactions, joint ventures and similar, especially cross-border transactions.