Foreign Investment

 

Serbia's law equalizes the rights and responsibilities of domestic and foreign investors, with full legal security and protection of rights acquired by virtue of investment. A foreign investor (foreign legal entity whose seat is abroad, foreign natural person, or national of Serbia having domicile or residence abroad for a period exceeding one year) has the right to:

• Control or take part in the management of the company he has founded or in which he has invested his capital;
• Transfer the rights and obligations (set out in the investment contract or the founding act) to other foreign or domestic persons;
• Share and freely dispose of the profit accruing from his investment;
• Inspect the books and business operations of the company in which he has invested;
• Audit the interim and annual financial statements, either personally or through an authorized representative;
• Freely and without delay transfer all financial and other assets related to the foreign investment (profits, dividends, additional payments, property upon dissolution of the enterprise etc.) abroad in a convertible currency.

 

A foreign investor is also allowed to buy real estate-business premises and apartments, provided the reciprocity condition is met. Urban construction land is still state-owned, implying that a foreign investor (as well as a domestic investor) may be given only the right to use it, for which a charge is to be paid.

 

Investment may be made by founding a new company, or by expanding the capital of an existing domestic company. The acquisition of shares in the initial capital of a company, or any other property right through which a business interest in Serbia is realized, is considered foreign investment, as well.

 

A foreign investor may freely found or invest in any company, except for those in the field of production of and trade in armaments, or in certain other areas defined as restricted by law. In these areas, a foreign investor may establish a company, or invest only with a domestic entity, but may not acquire majority rights in the management of such a company.

 

All companies, including those founded using a foreign person's assets, are obliged to register through the Business Registration Agency.