Incentives for Direct Investments in Serbia

Newsletter 75

The Republic of Serbia continues the incentives trend by issuing a new incentives programme for green-field and brown-field projects in Serbia in 2015, based on the Regulation on Terms and Conditions for Attracting Direct Investment (“Official Gazette of RS”, No. 28/2015) which entered into force on 21 March 2015 (hereinafter: “Regulation”). It is interesting that the Regulation now explicitly recognises as investment the costs of purchase of the assets of a company that ceased to operate or would have ceased to operate, under market conditions from the third parties (Art 3.5 of the Regulation). This means that a potential asset deal would be recognised as an eligible investment costs under this Regulation.

The level of funds that may be awarded is determined in relation to the eligible investment costs, defined as: 

• investments in tangible and intangible assets (please note that the current Regulation provides for a more precise definition of such investments than earlier, as well as the methods of proving and verifying investments); or

   

• costs of gross salaries for new jobs in a two-year period following implementation of the investment project.  (Art 5.1 and Art 3 of the Regulation)

   

These provisions are slightly different than those relating to year 2014.

The Regulation provides for the following limits of the type and level of funds that may be awarded…