Recently, the Serbian Government (“Government“) adopted a Regulation on the Quota in the Market Premium System (“Quota Regulation“), and soon after, the Regulation on Market Premium and Fid-In Tarif (“Tarif Regulation“) and the Regulation on the Model Agreement for the Market Premium for Renewable Energy Sources (“Model Agreement Regulation“). This package of by-laws has been adopted to create conditions for the organization of the first market premium auction in accordance with the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources (“Law“).

On January 1, 2022, certain provisions of Articles of the Rulebook on Electromagnetic Compatibility (Official Gazette of RS no. 25/2016 and 21/2020) ceased to apply, as well as of the Rulebook on Electrical Equipment Intended for Use within Certain Voltage Limits (Official Gazette of RS no. 25/2016 and 21/2020), which refer to the conformity certificate, i.e., its mandatory provision.

On 19 November 2021 the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia enacted amendments to the Company Law. The amendments are applicable as of 27 November 2021, except for certain clauses for which a deferred implementation is provided. This is the seventh time the Company Law undergoes changes since it was enacted ten years ago.

Amendments to the Law on Patents (the “Law”) entered into force on December 23, 2021, upon publication in the Official Gazette of RS no. 123/2021 as of December 15, 2021. The amendments were initially enacted for alignment of the Law with the EU regulations on intellectual property, as well as for elimination of certain deficiencies observed in its application.

Head of BDK Advokati’s Payment Services practice Dragoljub Sretenovic has been promoted to Partner.

Pursuant to the Law on utilization of renewable energy sources (“Official gazette of the RS” no. 40/2021, “Law on RES”), Government of the Republic of Serbia has in November 2021 adopted two new regulations: i) the Regulation on Market Premium and Feed-In Tariff and ii) the Regulation on Market Premium Model Agreement.

The end of 2021 has marked adoption of the new Law on Capital Market (the “Law”) in Serbia, which was published on 28 December 2021. The Law was adopted in line with the recently enacted Strategy for Development of the Capital Market for the period 2021-2026 and within a wider process of accession of Serbia to the EU.

On December 17, 2021, amendments to the Customs Law published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 118/2021 as of December 9, 2021 (the “Law”) entered into force. Outlined below is an overview of the key novelties, that were notably enacted for alignment with the changes introduced in the EU customs regulations.

On November 3, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Karanovic & Partners had advised ElevenEs on partnering with EIT InnoEnergy to build a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery factory in Subotica, Serbia. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Nemanja Mikac, CEO at ElevenEs, to learn more about the matter.

Ljubinka Pljevaljcic has been promoted to Partner at Doklestic, Repic & Gajin.

Contributed by BDK Advokati.

Even though changes could be in the pipeline for Serbia given the upcoming April 2022 presidential and parliamentary elections, the central Balkan country is in a state of stability and steady advancement, according to Radovanovic Stojanovic & Partners Partner Sasa Stojanovic.

Karanovic & Partners has appointed Bojana Miljanovic Hussey as Partner.

Serbian law firm Matkovic & Partners has announced it opened an office in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

On 19 November 2021 the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia enacted yet another amendment to the Company Law. This is the seventh change of this piece of legislation in its 10 year long legal life. We focus here on the two which may have far-reaching consequences to the landscape of limited liability companies (LLC) in Serbia.

On September 24, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Karanovic & Partners had announced it entered into an agreement with Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats to provide ongoing pro bono legal support on contracts, scholarships, and copyright matters. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Caroline Roboh, Founder and CEO of Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats (GRUBB), to learn more about the matter.

On 17 November 2021, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the amendments to the Companies Act (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 109/2021) (the „Act“) which entered into force on 27 November 2021.

The deadline for preparation of general acts and their obligatory submission to the competent Archive is approaching - December 31, 2021.