Long-awaited amendments to the Insolvency Act, proposed back in October 2016, were finally adopted by the Serbian Parliament, and came into force on 25 December 2017.

Improvement of the position of secured creditors and boost to fresh money

A creditor may take security over a debtor’s assets under Serbian law in several ways.

In May 2011 the Law on Consensual Financial Restructuring of the Companies (the Law) was enacted, bringing what appeared to be a new way out for the companies facing financial difficulties.

The Serbian Parliament adopted in urgent proceedings the Amendments to the Law on Privatization extending the existing moratorium on enforcement of creditors’ claims held against the companies in privatization restructuring. The amendments are affective as of 13 May 2014.

As of mid-August 2014, the Serbian Insolvency Act applies in its amended form.

As of 13 August 2014, the amendments and supplements to the Insolvency Act [Zakon o stečaju] are in force, published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 83/2014 ("New IA").

The New IA shall not be implemented retroactively, and those insolvency proceedings that were ongoing on the day the New IA entered into force will be continued under the previously valid rules.

In general, the New IA has not introduced fundamental changes in the field of insolvency law.

The National Bank of Serbia recently prepared a draft of the Financial Securities Law (the „Draft“). The Draft is open for public discussion until November 20, 2016. It is expected that this piece of legislation will enter into force on 1 January 2017. The relevant EU regulations have been taken into account while preparing this legislation.

The new Law on Consensual Financial Restructuring (“Official Gazette of RS“ No. 89/2015) which came into effect on November 4, 2015, began to be applied on February 3, 2016. As opposed to the previous Law on Consensual Financial Restructuring from 2011, which did not deliver the expected results with regard to decreasing number of irrecoverable debts, the new Law establishes a better legal framework for voluntary debt restructuring in Serbia.

The new Serbian Enforcement and Security Act becomes applicable on 1 July 2016. The changes are numerous. This is the first in a series of our Newsletters in which we will address the novelties introduced by the new legislation.

The new types of provisional measures

A new Enforcement Law has been introduced in Serbia, a significant portion of which will enter into force on 1 July 2016. One important novelty can be found in its Article 547, which, inter alia, introduces an obligation for certain enforcement creditors to deliver a specific statement to the court within a prescribed window of time, i.e. by 1 July 2016.