Foreign companies looking to establish themselves in Serbia usually set up a d.o.o. (društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću), Serbia’s equivalent of a limited liability company. It is by far the most common legal form because it is fast, inexpensive and offers limited liability.
The share capital is a symbolic 100 dinars, less than one euro. A d.o.o. can be 100 percent foreign-owned with no Serbian co-shareholder required. A local managing director is not mandatory, but in practice it is a real advantage with banks and authorities.
The process in brief
- Define name and activities and prepare the incorporation documents (articles of association, resolutions, signature samples).
- Register with the Business Registers Agency (APR), the central authority. This creates the company, the tax number (PIB) and the registration number.
- Open a business account with a Serbian bank and deposit the capital.
- Tax registration and, where relevant, VAT (PDV) registration.
- Register employees as soon as the first hires are made.
Realistically the company is registered within a few days. Opening the bank account can take another one to two weeks. Corporate profit tax is 15 percent, among the lowest in Europe.
The real hurdle is rarely the paperwork but execution on the ground: the right bank, a reliable accountant, dealing with authorities in Serbian. That is exactly where we come in, more on our Serbia page. If you need leadership on site in the early phase, our interim management provides it.
This article is general information and does not replace legal or tax advice; the right setup depends on your project.