The business register in Serbia is the Registar privrednih subjekata (Business Entities Register), kept by the Agencija za privredne registre — APR (Serbian Business Registers Agency). It is a single centralised electronic database covering sole proprietors, companies, cooperatives and cooperative federations, public enterprises, and the branches and representative offices of foreign companies, and its data are available on the internet to anyone, without any need to prove a legal entitlement. Incorporation of companies is now filed electronically only.

The company registry in Serbia

The agency is unusual in how much it holds in one place. Alongside the Business Entities Register, APR keeps the registers of financial statements, of pledges and financial leasing, of associations and foreign associations, of endowments and foundations, of sports associations, of tourism, of chambers, of bankruptcy estates, of court injunctions, of bidders, and the central record of beneficial owners. The procedural framework is the Zakon o postupku registracije u Agenciji za privredne registre (Law on the Registration Procedure with the Business Registers Agency), and the substantive company law is the Zakon o privrednim društvima (Companies Act).

Registration operates as a one-stop shop: on entry in the register the entity receives its statistical registration number from the statistical office, its tax identification number from the tax administration, and its pension and health insurance codes. Electronic filing is mandatory for the incorporation of companies — general partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability companies and joint-stock companies — since 17 May 2023, while entrepreneurs, cooperatives, public enterprises and branches of foreign companies may still choose paper or electronic filing.

Entrepreneurs are handled in their own section of the same agency. A preduzetnik (entrepreneur) is a natural person, liable with all personal assets for the obligations arising from the business, and that liability survives deletion from the register.

Legal forms that can be registered in Serbia

The Companies Act recognises four company forms; the remaining entities below are registered in the same Business Entities Register under their own statutes.

  • Ortačko društvo — o.d. (General partnership) — two or more members with unlimited joint and several liability for the company’s obligations, using all their assets; any contractual limitation has no effect on third parties.
  • Komanditno društvo — k.d. (Limited partnership) — at least one komplementar with unlimited liability and at least one komanditor liable only up to the agreed contribution.
  • Društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću — d.o.o. (Limited liability company) — members hold stakes and are not liable for the company’s obligations except in the statutory piercing cases. The minimum registered capital is RSD 100. This is the dominant Serbian form.
  • Akcionarsko društvo — a.d. (Joint-stock company) — capital divided into shares and shareholders not liable except in the piercing cases; the minimum registered capital is RSD 3,000,000. Note that shareholders are recorded by the Central Securities Depository, not by APR.
  • Preduzetnik (Entrepreneur, sole trader) — a natural person carrying on business with unlimited personal liability.
  • Ogranak stranog privrednog društva (Branch of a foreign company) — no legal personality; it acts in the name and for the account of the foreign company, which remains liable.
  • Predstavništvo stranog privrednog društva (Representative office of a foreign company) — no legal personality and may conclude only transactions relating to its own current operations; its registration is mandatory.
  • Zadruga (Cooperative) — registered in the Business Entities Register under the cooperatives law rather than the Companies Act.
  • Javno preduzeće (Public enterprise) — a state- or municipality-owned entity registered in the same register under the public enterprises law.

Information available from the Serbian business register

The registration law states the principle: registered data and documents are public and available to everyone through the agency’s website and by direct inspection, unless publicity is limited by law. APR provides a free unified entity search by registration number, tax identification number or name.

The Registar finansijskih izveštaja (Register of Financial Statements) is a second major public resource: financial statements are published free of charge and searched by the same identifiers, with separate applications covering older and more recent balance dates.

What is restricted

Serbia rebuilt its beneficial ownership regime recently. A new law on the central record of beneficial owners was adopted in 2025 and applies from 1 October 2025, repealing the 2018 law. The record is described in the law as public, and the recorded data must be published on the agency’s portal at the moment of recording, taking effect against third parties the following day — but access is tiered. Full data and the underlying documents may be inspected and downloaded through the portal only by state bodies, supervisory bodies and entities subject to anti-money-laundering obligations. The personal identifiers — the national identification number, passport or foreign identity document number and issuing state, the foreigner’s record number, the refugee identity number — and the supporting documents including passport copies may be accessed only by persons demonstrating a justified interest. In short, the identity of a beneficial owner is publicly visible while the personal identifiers behind it are not. The record covers companies other than public joint-stock companies, cooperatives, branches of foreign companies, associations, foundations, institutions, representative offices and trusts.

A practical caution: the agency’s own explanatory page still cited the repealed 2018 law when checked, so the statute rather than the website should be treated as controlling.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

The registrar issues the following on request, within short statutory deadlines:

  • Izvod o registrovanim podacima (Excerpt of registered data) — a public document showing the registered data on an entity as at the moment of issue: name, registration and tax numbers, legal form, seat, activity, capital, representatives and their powers. The standard proof of existence and of who may act for the entity.
  • Kopija dokumenta na osnovu koga je izvršena registracija (Copy of the document on which the registration was based) — the founding act, the statute and corporate decisions, issued as transcripts or certified copies. Used for due diligence and for evidencing the corporate chain.
  • Potvrda (Certificate) — a public document confirming whether a particular datum or document was registered, recorded or published, whether the register holds a given document, whether certain facts appear in registered documents, or confirming legal statuses and the consequences of registration, for example that an entity has never been deleted.
  • Rešenje o registraciji (Registration decision) — the registrar’s decision granting the registration, published on the agency’s website and delivered to the applicant, including to the registered e-mail address.
  • Finansijski izveštaji i potvrde iz Registra finansijskih izveštaja (Financial statements and certificates from the Register of Financial Statements) — the published statements themselves and certified transcripts of certificates from that register.
  • Izvod i potvrde iz Centralne evidencije stvarnih vlasnika (Excerpt and certificates from the central record of beneficial owners) — an excerpt on current beneficial owners, a certificate on historical beneficial ownership data, and a certificate that a given natural person is or was recorded as a beneficial owner, issued to an interested person on electronic or written request.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the business register in Serbia called?

The Registar privrednih subjekata (Business Entities Register), kept by the Serbian Business Registers Agency together with a dozen other registers.

Is Serbian company information free to access?

Yes. Registered data and documents are public and available to everyone through the agency’s website and by direct inspection, with a free unified entity search.

Must a Serbian company be incorporated electronically?

Yes. Since 17 May 2023 applications for the incorporation of companies may be filed only electronically. Entrepreneurs, cooperatives, public enterprises and branches of foreign companies may still file on paper.

Are financial statements published in Serbia?

Yes. The Register of Financial Statements publishes them free of charge, searchable by registration number, tax number or name.

Can I see the shareholders of a Serbian joint-stock company?

Not from APR. Shareholders of a joint-stock company are recorded by the Central Securities Depository rather than by the register.

Is the Serbian beneficial ownership record public?

Partly. The identity of beneficial owners is published, but full data and supporting documents are reserved to authorities and obliged entities, and personal identifiers such as the national identification number require a justified interest.

Sources

Keywords

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