General Instructions

The registration procedure shall be initiated by submitting a registration application on the appropriate form.

The documentation submitted in support of the application must be originals, certified excerpts or copies certified by the competent authority. Proof of payment of the fee for conducting the registration procedure shall be also attached.

If a foreign document is attached, it must be legalized pursuant to the law, and accompanied by its translation into Serbian made by a certified court interpreter.

The registration procedure shall be initiated ex officio only if a separate law stipulates that the registration is performed ex officio.

*The registration procedure is governed by the Law on the Procedure of Registration with the Serbian Business Registers Agency (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 99/11, 83/14, 31/19 and 105/21).

**The content of the Register and the documentation required for registration are prescribed by the Rulebook on the Content of the Register of Financial Leasing and Documents Required for Registration (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 31/13 and 86/19).

***The amount of the fee for conducting the registration procedure and other services of the Register of Financial Leasing is prescribed by the Decision on Fees for Registration and other Services Provided by the Serbian Business Registers Agency (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 119/13, 138/14, 45/15, 106/15, 32/16, 60/16, 75/18, 73/19, 15/20, 91/20, 11/21 and 66/21).

SUBMISSION OF A REGISTRATION APPLICATION

A registration application can be submitted directly or by mail.

Direct submission of an application can be made at the registered office of the Serbian Business Registers Agency, in Belgrade, Brankova 25, or some of its thirteen organizational units. Addresses of the Agency’s organizational units are displayed in the section “Contacts”.

If an application is submitted by mail, the date and time of its receipt by the Serbian Business Registers Agency shall be deemed to be the date and time of its submission.

TYPES OF REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORMS

The following types of registration application forms are available at the Register of Financial Leasing:

  • Application form for registration of a financial leasing contract;
  • Application form for registration of amendments and/or supplements to data on a registered financial leasing contract;
  • Application form for registration of an annotation;
  • Application form for strike-off of an annotation;
  • Application form for registration of termination of a contract or strike-off of data on a registered contract;
  • Application form for registration of data on the special authorization to hold and use a leased object;

The registration application forms are available on the website of the Agency, in the section “Forms” of the Register of Financial Leasing.

These application forms can be downloaded from the section “Forms” free of charge, while paper copies thereof can be obtained at the Serbian Business Registers Agency’s registered office or any of its organizational units, for a fee of RSD 120.

The “Instructions” section contains a separate instruction on how to complete each of the application forms and detailed instructions on the documentation that needs to be submitted in the registration procedure.

Detailed instructions on the amount of the fee for registration or strike-off of data are available in the section “Fees”.

REGISTRATION APPLICANT

For the application to be considered valid, it must be submitted by an authorized person.

The persons authorized to submit an application for registration of a financial leasing contract shall be:

  • the lessor (a limited liability company or joint-stock company with a registered office in the Republic of Serbia, licensed by the National Bank of Serbia for performing financial leasing operations according to the Law on Financial Leasing), and
  • the lessee, if this is determined in the financial leasing contract (a natural or legal entity to whom the lessor transfers the authorization to hold and use the leased object, for the agreed period and the agreed fee, in which the lessee enjoys all benefits and bears all risks related to ownership and is obligated to pay the lessor, in return, the agreed fee, within the agreed deadlines).

Besides the lessor and the lessee, other types of registration applications can also be submitted by interested parties, i.e. any party who has a certain legal interest to have data registered or struck off the Register (e.g. a person conducting litigation in connection with a leased object or registered financial leasing contract shall be authorized to submit an application for registration of an annotation and similar).

SIGNATORY OF A REGISTRATION APPLICATION ON BEHALF OF A LEGAL ENTITY

A registration application submitted by a legal entity has to be signed by:

  • the legal representative of the company or other legal entity;
  • a proxy, authorized by an act or decision of the company’s competent body, to act on behalf of the company;
  • a procurator, but the latter cannot transfer the procura to another person, because it is non-transferable;
  • an authorized person, on the basis of a proper power of attorney, i.e. authorization.

FILING AN APPLICATION THROUGH A PROXY

If the registration application is filed through a proxy, a valid power of attorney must be submitted with the registration application.

A power of attorney may be:

  • General, authorizing the proxy to take all actions in a procedure;
  • Special, authorizing the proxy to take only certain actions, specified in the power of attorney.

If the proxy is not an attorney-at-law and the authorization is granted by a natural person, the power of attorney must be certified by the authority responsible for certification of signatures (as of 1 March 2017, only notaries shall be responsible for certification of documentation, except in local self-government units where there are no notaries and therefore the certification may still be performed by a court or municipality).

FILING THE REGISTRATION APPLICATION THROUGH AN ATTORNEY-AT-LAW

If the proxy is an attorney-at-law, the power of attorney does not have to be notarized. However, if the grantor of the power of attorney is a foreign corporate entity, the signature of the grantor has to be notarized, to verify that the signee is an authorized representative of the grantor. If the power of attorney is notarized abroad, such a document has to be legalized in accordance with the law governing the legalization of international documents.

DEPOSITING A POWER OF ATTORNEY

If a legal entity is a frequent client in the procedure of registration, the power of attorney can be deposited with the Register of Financial Leasing.

When filing a registration application, the applicant should indicate that the power of attorney was deposited and state the filing number thereof.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR REGISTRATION

A duly completed application form must be accompanied by:

  • a document that constitutes grounds for registration or strike-off of data;
  • other appropriate documents corroborating the data whose registration is requested;
  • proof of payment of the stipulated registration fee.

Documents submitted in support of the application must be originals, or certified copies.

If a foreign document is submitted in support of the application, it has to be legalized in accordance with the law governing the legalization of international documents.

A document made in a foreign language shall be accompanied by its translation into Serbian, which must be made by a certified court interpreter.

The Rulebook on the Content of the Register of Financial Leasing and Documents Required for Registration (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 31/13 and 86/19) specifies in detail the documents that must be submitted in support of registration or strike-off of registered data, for each type of registration application separately.

The Rulebook is available in the section “Laws and by-laws”.

Detailed instructions on the documentation to be submitted with each of the registration application forms are provided in the section “Instructions”.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION

The applicant is required to file an application for registration of a financial leasing contract within 7 days from the date of deleivery of the object of lease.

An application for registration of an amendment and/or supplement to data on a registered financial leasing contract, as well as an application for registration of termination of a financial leasing contract or strike-off of data on a registered financial leasing contract, shall be submitted within 7 days from the date of the occurrence of the facts conditioning the amendment and/or supplement or strike-off of the data.

For an application filed after the expiry of the statutory term, the registration fee shall be increased by the amount stipulated in the Decision on Fees for Registration and Other Services Provided by the Serbian Business Registers Agency (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 119/13, 138/14, 45/15, 106/15, 32/16, 60/16, 75/18, 73/19, 15/20, 91/20, 11/21 and 66/21).

REGISTRAR'S DECIDING UPON APPLICATIONS

The deadline for deciding upon a registration application shall be five workdays from the date of receipt of the application.

If the Registrar fails to decide upon an application within the statutory deadline, the application shall be deemed to have been approved. In that case, the Registrar shall be obliged to issue a decision and implement the requested registration in the Register, without delay.

Approval of an application

If the registration requirements are met, the Registrar shall issue a decision approving the application. The Registrar’s decision shall be published on the Agency’s website concurrently with its adoption.

Rejection of an application and the possibility of submitting a new one with the payment of half of the prescribed amount of the fee

The Registrar shall reject an application if s/he establishes that it was submitted by an unauthorized person, that it does not contain data and facts necessary for the registration, that the application is not accompanied by the prescribed documentation, that the facts contained in the application do not comply with the facts contained in the attached documentation and data registered in publicly available registers, and/or that the application is not accompanied by proof of payment of the prescribed fee, whereby the decision rejecting the application shall establish which of the prescribed requirements for registration are not met.

If the applicant, within 30 days from the day of publishing the decision rejecting the application, submits a new registration application and eliminates the identified deficiencies, s/he shall pay half of the prescribed amount of the fee for conducting the registration procedure. In the new application, the applicant must state the number of the decision rejecting the previous application.

If the applicant submits a new application and concurrently appeals the Registrar’s decision rejecting the application, it shall be deemed that the actions to remediate the identified deficiencies have not been taken and the appeal procedure shall run its course.

Other reasons for rejecting an application

If the Registrar establishes that s/he does not have the authority to decide upon an application, that the data or document is not subject to registration, that the data or document whose registration is required is already registered, that the application referred to in Article 17, paragraph 3, of the Law on the Procedure of Registration with the Serbian Business Registers Agency was not submitted within the statutory time limit, that the registration of data or documents conflicts with a separate law or that the registration of data or documents conflicts with an act of the competent authority issued in accordance with the law, s/he shall issue a decision rejecting the application.

Any decision of the Registrar can be appealed by the applicant.

DELIVERY OF A WRITTEN COPY OF THE DECISION ISSUED IN THE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

A written copy of the Registrar’s decision shall be delivered only at the explicit request of the applicant.

A written copy of the Registrar’s decision may be delivered:

  • by postal item, to the registered mailing address of a legal entity or sole proprietor;
  • by postal item, to the address of the registered office of a legal entity or sole proprietor, if the mailing address is not registered;
  • by e-mail, to the registered e-mail address, in accordance with regulations governing e-business;
  • by postal item, to the address of residence or domicile of a natural person who is a party to the procedure; or
  • it can be collected at the registered office of the Agency or any of its organizational units.

RESTITUTION TO THE PREVIOUS STATE

Restitution to the previous state shall not be allowed in the registration procedure.

APPEALS AGAINST AN DECISION OF THE REGISTRAR

The person authorized to submit an application may file an appeal to the Minister in charge of economic affairs against the decision of the Registrar, within 30 days from the date of its publication.

The appeal may also be lodged orally, by means of an on-record statement provided to the Serbian Business Registers Agency.

The appeal shall not delay the enforcement of the decision.

If the person authorized to submit an application appeals against the decision rejecting the application for registration, which determines the requirements that are not met, and concurrently eliminates the deficiencies determined by the decision, it shall be deemed that the actions taken to eliminate the identified deficiencies were not taken and the appeal procedure shall run its course.

The appellant may not make any reference in the appeal to the facts that were not contained in the application and the documentation that was not attached to the application.

Proof of payment of the state administrative fee for the appeal and the decision shall be filed along with a copy of the appeal. The fee is paid to the Republic of Serbia budget, account No.: 840-742221843-57.

According to Article 5, paragraph 1, items 1) and 2) of the Law on State Administrative Fees (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 43/2003, 51/2003, 61/2005, 101/2005, 5/2009, 54/2009, 50/2011, 70/2011, 55/2012, 93/2012, 47/2013, 65/2013, 57/2014, 45/2015, 83/2015, 112/2015, 50/2016, 61/2017, 113/2017, 3/2018, 50/2018, 95/2018, 38/2019, 86/2019, 90/2019, 98/2020, 144/2020, 138/2022 and 92/23), the fee for applications is charged on submission, and for decisions upon filing a request for the issuance thereof. According to a scale of charges for state administrative fees, the fee for filing an appeal shall amount to RSD 590 (tariff number 6), for a copy of the decision on appeal - RSD 690 (tariff number 9), and for a reminder inviting the payer to pay the fee - RSD 350 (tariff number 18).

APPEAL PROCEDURE

If the Registrar establishes that the appeal is untimely, inadmissible or filed by an unauthorized person, s/he shall issue a decision rejecting the appeal.

If the Registrar establishes that the appeal is grounded, s/he will amend the appealed decision or annul the decision rejecting the application and shall issue a decision adopting the application.

If the Registrar, within 5 workdays from the date of receipt of a proper appeal, fails to issue any of the said decisions on the appeal, s/he shall forward the appeal to the Minister in charge of economic affairs, without delay.

The Minister shall decide on the appeal within 30 days from the date of receipt of the appeal by the Ministry.

RECTIFICATION OF TECHNICAL ERRORS

If a spelling, computational or other evident error was made in the registration process, the Registrar shall, within five workdays upon learning of such an error or upon submission of a request for rectification, issue a decision rectifying the error.

If the Registrar, while deciding upon the request for rectification of the error, establishes that no error was made, s/he shall issue a decision dismissing the request as unfounded.

ISSUANCE OF EXCERPTS, CERTIFICATES AND COPIES OF DOCUMENTS

Excerpt by ZL. number

An excerpt from the Register is a public document containing all registered data on a specific financial leasing contract. Such an excerpt has the power of an executive document.

Certificate

A certificate is a public document confirming that a certain movable or immovable asset is registered as the leased object, i.e. that a certain person is registered as the lessee, stating basic data on the registered financial leasing contract or confirming that a certain movable or immovable asset is not registered as the leased object, i.e. that a certain person is not registered as the lessee.

A certificate also confirms that the data or the document was registered, i.e. that the Register contains a certain document.

The Application Requesting Issuance of an Excerpt / Certificate from the Financial Leasing Register

The application requesting issuance of an excerpt/certificate from the Financial Leasing Register is displayed on the webpage of the Register, within the section “Forms”, and can be submitted by any interested party.

The application must be accompanied by proof of payment of the fee.

Issuance of copies of documents

An interested party may also seek the issuance of a copy of the document based on which the registration or the strike-off of data from the Register was performed.

Fees for the issuance of excerpts, certificates and copies of documents

Detailed instructions on the amounts of the Financial Leasing Register’s services fees, including the issuance of excerpts, certificates or copies of documents, are available in the section “Fees”.

AVAILABILITY OF DATA

Availability of data via the website of te Agency

All registered data are publicly available via the website of the Agency, within the section “Data Search” of the Register of Financial Leasing, without payment of any fee.

Detailed search instructions are provided in the section “Instructions”, under the heading “Instructions for Data Searches.

Access to the documentation based on which the registration was performed

Interested parties may inspect the documentation based on which the data was registered.

An application requesting access to the case files shall be submitted to the Archives Department of the Serbian Business Registers Agency, while detailed information, including contact telephone numbers, are provided in the section “Archives”.

Limited availability of data

The availability of certain data and documents may be limited, in accordance with the regulations governing the protection of personal data and the business secret.

CONSEQUENCES OF REPORTING FALSE INFORMATION OR SUBMITTING A FALSE OR ALTERED DOCUMENT IN THE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

Article 45 of the Law on the Procedure of Registration with the Serbian Business Registers Agency (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 99/11, 83/14, 31/19 and 105/21) stipulates that reporting false information or submitting a false or altered document with the intention to use such information or a document in the registration and recording procedure as genuine shall constitute a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment from three months to five years.