Can Foreigners Start a Business in Serbia?

It is possible to register a company in Serbia, even if you are a foreign citizen or foreign company, which means that the firm in Serbia can be owned and set up by foreign citizens of foreign legal entities. Also, foreign persons or representatives of foreign legal entities do not need to be present in Serbia to finalize the company’s formation. The whole process can be done by local advisory firms that can complete this process via power of attorney.

Even though setting up a company in our country goes relatively fast as the business register is obliged to issue a decision in five working days after the registration request is submitted, the steps before submission of the application need to be done appropriately. Company registration is followed by several procedures and activities which are co-related. In addition, we are presenting a detailed guide for setting up a company and getting it fully operational so you can understand which steps you need to take during this procedure.

Select the Type of Company in Serbia

In the beginning, we mentioned that the first step is to choose the legal form for the registration of your company or legal person. Besides an entrepreneur, there are legal forms of companies.

According to the Companies law of the Republic of Serbia, there are several types of organizing legal persons (legal forms of business entities).

Those are:

- An entrepreneur

- A limited liability company

- A partnership company

- A limited partnership company

- A joint-stock company

Additional legal forms are as follows:

- A branch office of a domestic legal entity

- Representative office of foreign legal entity

The most popular legal forms of companies are as follows:

Limited Liability Company (DOO)

This is the most popular form of a legal entity established by foreign companies or natural persons in Serbia.

The LLC members are responsible for the company’s commitment only to the value of their share. They are not responsible for personally committing to their property, but they bear risk proportional to their share. So the real risk remains in the Serbian firm and cannot be transferred to a shareholder who is abroad.

This form of the company allows the employment of an unlimited number of local and foreign citizens.

Foreign Legal Entity Branch Office in Serbia

A branch office of a legal entity represents the separate organizational part of a foreign company through which it does business in the Republic of Serbia and by the Law.

The branch office can have its legal representative. The branch office does not have the status of a legal entity in Serbia but provides activities and forwards in the name and on account of the founders.

* Selection of Company Name

Every business name of the company must contain basic elements. The business name must contain the company’s name, its legal form, and the place where the company’s principal office is registered. Besides that, the business name must contain other elements following the Law.

When you choose your company’s business name, it is important to follow guidelines, all the law rules, and boundaries. Before sending the setup application, it is recommended that you check if the name of the company is available and, if it is, that you reserve the name in advance.

* Select the Code of Activity of a company

All legal persons and business entities are obliged to choose their activity code (that activity they will mainly do). This implies a commitment that when you apply to set up a company, you must choose and write down the company’s core or the company’s most important activity.

The activity code of the company that you choose is known as the core activity (leading or dominant activity). These are the jobs that a firm will mostly do to gain profit. There are additional activities and other jobs done by a legal person (if there are no legal restraints).

If the additional activity becomes dominant, it must be changed into the core activity. For the LLC, this means the change of the Memorandum of association.

* Registered Address in Serbia

Instead of renting the business premises, it is possible to rent the virtual office and register the company’s main office, regardless of the place where the activities are performed. This is a very efficient model for smaller and new companies that start a business in Serbia.

What is a virtual office in Serbia?

A virtual office represents a modern and very efficient business concept, which can save a significant amount of money regarding the rent and additional expenses for business premises.

The virtual offices are rented to register the company’s address and for receiving posts, giving administrative support to the firms, picking up the phone, and so on. These offices are very flexible and allow the firms to successfully do their activities regardless of where the main office is registered.

Opening a Bank Account

Before opening a bank account, you must get information about the bank’s tariff compensations for payment services, compensation for monthly maintenance of the bank account, and whether a certain bank has services through e-banking and similar.

To open a bank account, it is usually necessary to submit basic documentation:

An application for opening a bank account

A form with certified signatures of persons authorized for representation (CS form certified at the notary

A decision on company registration (from the Serbian Business Register)

A card with the deposited signatures from the bank The directors’ identity proof

The bank’s additional documentation, such as the contract for opening an account in each currency, requests for online banking.

The documents submitted for opening a bank account can differ from bank to bank, but the basic and obligatory documentation is mentioned above.

If you are uncertain about your choice of bank, we can recommend and support you in opening a bank account in one of the leading international banks in Serbia.

Also, following your need, we can submit complete documentation for opening a business account for your company and follow up the whole procedure.