Starting from May 17, 2023, as a result of the amendments to the Law on the Procedure of Registration in the Serbian Business Registers Agency, the submission of company registration documentation will only be accepted electronically, with a few exceptions.

Applications for establishing a cooperative, public company, or branch/representative office of a foreign company can still be submitted in paper form.

To successfully submit an electronic registration application, the applicant must have:

1. A qualified electronic certificate (electronic signature) issued by a Serbian certification body, linked to personal data.
2. An electronic card reader and the NEXU application for electronic signature.
3. A Visa, MasterCard, or Dina payment card to pay the administrative fee.

All attached documents must be submitted electronically. For documents created in paper form, they must first be digitized and signed with an electronic signature to have the same legal validity as the original paper document. This digitization process must be performed by the document issuer, a notary public, or an attorney at law, depending on the document's nature. If the document is issued by a foreign authority, it cannot be directly submitted electronically unless there is reciprocity based on international agreements. In such cases, the document must be printed, certified in the issuing country, then digitized and certified by a Serbian notary or attorney.

While these changes mark significant progress in digitalizing Serbia’s public administration and improving efficiency, there will be an adaptation period as all participants adjust to the new system.

For more detailed information regarding the submission of the mandatory electronic registration application for the establishment of legal entities, as well as for complete legal assistance in this regard, please feel free to contact our lawyer in the Corporate/M&A department, Partner Sava Pavlović or your regular contact person in Živković Samardžić Law Office.