Serbia Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Serbian Business

TL;DR. Serbia’s official business registry is the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR), accessible at apr.gov.rs. Basic company search is free, requires no account, and returns director names, shareholders, and filed financial statements going back to 2016. The homepage and APR portal have English sections, but the core company databases operate primarily in Serbian (Cyrillic and Latin script). Serbia was removed from the FATF grey list in 2019 and completed a new MONEYVAL mutual evaluation in 2025.

What is the official Serbia business registry?

The Serbian Business Registers Agency (Агенција за привредне регистре, abbreviated APR) is Serbia’s central registry authority, established by the Law on Business Registers (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 55/2004 and subsequent amendments). APR operates under the Ministry of Economy and maintains registries for companies, sole proprietors, non-governmental organizations, financial leasing, and several other entity categories.

APR replaced the fragmented registration system previously administered by municipal courts and the commercial court network. All newly incorporated entities have been registered with APR since 2005. Historical records predating 2005 were progressively migrated from municipal court registries, though coverage completeness varies by registry period and entity type.

The central search portal is available at pretraga2.apr.gov.rs, which provides unified search across APR’s entity databases. APR also maintains a dedicated open-data portal data.apr.gov.rs where bulk datasets of company information are published as open data.

What can you search?

APR’s public search supports the following lookup methods:

• Company name (partial search supported, in Serbian Latin or Cyrillic)
• MB number (Matični broj, the 8-digit entity registration number, Serbia’s primary company identifier)
• PIB (Poreski identifikacioni broj, the tax identification number, 9 digits)
• Registered address
• Director name (cross-entity search limited in the free interface)

Data returned per entity includes: full registered name, MB number, PIB, legal form, registered address, date of registration, status (active, dissolved, in bankruptcy, in liquidation), authorized persons (directors, statutory representatives), shareholders and their ownership percentages, registered activity code (SKD/NACE), and authorized capital. Financial statements filed with APR are publicly available for entities that file them (generally, from financial year 2016 onward).

APR also holds the Central Records of Beneficial Owners (Centralna evidencija stvarnih vlasnika). Under Serbia’s Law on the Central Register of Beneficial Owners (effective 2018, substantially amended from October 2025 onward), all legal entities must register their UBOs with APR. This data is publicly searchable through APR’s UBO portal.

Data freshness follows a filing-event model. APR processes registrations and changes within 5 business days under standard procedures. Urgent processing is available for a fee.

How much does it cost?

Basic search and document viewing are free through the APR public portal. Certified extracts with a digital signature or physical stamp are available for a fee. Prices verified from apr.gov.rs/registers/companies/fees.1790.html as of May 2026. Exchange rate used: RSD/USD approximately 107:1 (May 2026, approximate; verify at the National Bank of Serbia before any transaction).

Do you need a local account or ID?

No. The APR public search is open to any user without registration. No Serbian identity document, no Serbian bank account, and no local entity account is required to search company data or view financial statements. Foreign compliance buyers can perform a full company lookup using only an internet connection.

Certified extract downloads and certain filing-related services require a qualified electronic signature or a Serbian eGovernment portal (eUprava) account, which typically requires a Serbian personal identification number. For most compliance purposes, the free uncertified extract is sufficient and freely accessible.

Is the website in English?

Partially. The APR homepage at apr.gov.rs is available in English and provides descriptive information about the agency, services, and registration requirements. The unified company search interface (pretraga2.apr.gov.rs) operates in Serbian only. Company names, director names, and address data in the database follow Serbian script conventions, mixing Cyrillic and Latin depending on the entity’s original registration. Financial statements are filed in Serbian.

For foreign buyers, the practical approach is to use the MB number or PIB as the search key (numerics work regardless of script), apply Google Translate to the result page, and focus on the structured data fields (status, address, director names) rather than trying to parse free-text filings.

What’s the turnaround time?

Free public lookups return results instantly. Financial statements are available as PDFs immediately after opening the entity profile. Certified extracts ordered through the system are typically delivered within 1-3 business days. Standard company registrations and change filings are processed within 5 business days; urgent processing is available for an additional fee with a 24-hour turnaround.

Is there an API?

No formal public API for the APR company database is available for external developers as of May 2026. APR does publish open data sets at data.apr.gov.rs, including bulk downloads of company and financial statement data in machine-readable formats (XML and CSV). These open data releases can serve as an alternative to direct API access for bulk compliance workflows.

For real-time API integration, third-party commercial providers indexing APR data are available in the Serbian market, though most operate with Serbian-language documentation and serve domestic users primarily.

What you legally cannot do

APR’s Terms of Use and Serbia’s Law on Personal Data Protection (ZZPL, aligned with GDPR principles as part of Serbia’s EU accession obligations) prohibit:

• Automated bulk scraping of the APR public portal for commercial redistribution
• Using personal data from the registry (director names, residential addresses where visible) for unsolicited marketing
• Representing APR data as certified or official when presenting uncertified extracts
• Redistributing financial statements commercially without compliance with Serbia’s copyright and data re-use frameworks

For compliance due diligence, fetching individual entity records is within permitted use. Serbia’s data protection authority (Povereник za informacije) oversees personal data compliance; see poverenik.rs for current guidance. The broader legal framework for cross-border registry data use is covered in our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• MB number is the anchor identifier. The Matični broj (MB) is Serbia’s 8-digit company registration number, assigned at incorporation and stable across name changes. Always lead with the MB if you have it. The PIB (tax ID) is a reliable secondary identifier.
• Cyrillic vs. Latin. Serbian uses both scripts. Registered names may appear in either. The APR database contains entries in both. When searching by name, try both scripts or use a transliteration tool. Searching by MB or PIB bypasses this problem entirely.
• UBO changes from October 2025. Serbia’s new Law on the Central Register of Beneficial Owners (effective October 2025) introduced stricter requirements: entities must upload supporting documentation, and foreign beneficial owners must provide passport copies. The registry APR maintains is being updated to reflect these new requirements. An entity whose UBO profile was last updated before October 2025 may not yet have complied with the new documentation obligations.
• Financial statements depth. Filed annual accounts from 2016 onward are publicly available. Entities below the micro-enterprise threshold file abbreviated returns. For credit risk assessment, cross-reference APR financial data with a commercial credit bureau.
• Status fields. “Активан” (Aktivan) means active. “У стечају” (u stečaju) means in bankruptcy. “У ликвидацији” (u likvidaciji) means in voluntary liquidation. “Брисан” (brisan) means struck from the register. Always check the status field first.
• Serbia’s EU path. Serbia is an EU candidate country. Its legal framework for company registration and beneficial ownership is being progressively aligned with EU standards, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the EU AML package. Data quality and disclosure requirements are improving incrementally.

Alternatives if you cannot access APR directly

• Aggregator search (free, indicative only): OpenCorporates indexes Serbian company filings from APR’s open data but lags official data. Useful for a quick name check; not for compliance-grade verification.
• APR Open Data (data.apr.gov.rs): APR’s own bulk data portal provides machine-readable company datasets. Suitable for platform-level integration where real-time lookup is not required.

Local data suppliers

• Bisnode Serbia (bisnode.rs). Part of the Dun and Bradstreet network. Provides commercial credit reports and risk ratings for Serbian companies, drawing on APR data supplemented by trade payment behavior and proprietary risk models. Primary audience: banks, trade creditors, insurers.
• APR Financial Statements Portal (apr.gov.rs). The official source for filed accounts. Free to access. Use for historical financial performance review; note that micro-entities file abbreviated accounts.

Use APR for the authoritative legal and corporate record. Use a commercial credit bureau when you need payment behavior, trade reference data, or a standardized risk score alongside the registry filing.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Serbia APR registry directly?

Yes. The APR public search is open globally without registration. No Serbian account or identity document is required for basic company lookups and financial statement downloads. Certified extracts with a digital stamp require a qualified electronic signature or eUprava account, which typically needs a Serbian personal ID; foreign buyers should engage a local agent for certified extract requests if required.

What is the MB number in Serbia?

The Matični broj (MB) is an 8-digit unique registration number assigned to each legal entity at incorporation with APR. It is stable across corporate name changes and is the primary identifier in APR’s database. The PIB (Poreski identifikacioni broj) is the 9-digit tax ID assigned by the Tax Administration and is the secondary identifier commonly appearing on invoices and contracts. Both appear in the APR company profile.

What entity types are registered with APR?

APR registers: joint-stock companies (akcionarsko društvo, AD), limited liability companies (društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću, DOO), sole proprietors (preduzetnici), partnerships, cooperatives, branches and representative offices of foreign companies, non-governmental organizations (foundations and associations), and several specialized entity types (leasing companies, healthcare institutions). Public enterprises with special ownership structures may have partial registrations with APR supplemented by separate government registers.

Does Serbia have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

Yes. Serbia’s Central Records of Beneficial Owners is held by APR and publicly searchable. The registry was established in 2018 and substantially strengthened by the new Law on the Central Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners effective October 1, 2025. The new law requires entities to upload supporting documentation for each declared UBO and gives enforcement authorities new tools including criminal penalties of 6 months to 5 years imprisonment for intentional false filings. Compliance buyers can search UBO data through APR’s UBO search interface.

How current is the data in APR?

Under standard procedures, APR processes changes within 5 business days of a valid filing. Financial statements are available after the statutory annual filing deadline (typically by June 30 of the following year for the prior calendar year). APR’s open data portal is updated regularly but may lag the live search portal by days or weeks for changes filed within the current update cycle.

Is Serbia on the FATF grey list?

No. Serbia was removed from the FATF grey list in June 2019 after completing its action plan. Serbia underwent a new MONEYVAL mutual evaluation with an on-site visit in May 2025. The results, published at the December 2025 MONEYVAL plenary, placed Serbia in regular follow-up status, the standard post-evaluation monitoring track for jurisdictions meeting minimum compliance thresholds. Serbia is not subject to FATF increased monitoring. See fatf-gafi.org and coe.int/moneyval for current status.

What’s the difference between APR and Serbia’s tax administration?

APR handles legal existence: incorporation, deregistration, director changes, ownership, UBO disclosure, and filed financial statements. Serbia’s Tax Administration (Poreska uprava) manages tax identification numbers (PIB), VAT registration, tax compliance status, and tax arrears. A thorough counterparty check typically requires cross-referencing APR (legal standing) with the Tax Administration’s public payer register (tax-good-standing status) and, for credit decisions, with a commercial credit bureau.

Last verified: May 2026. Sources: Serbian Business Registers Agency (apr.gov.rs); MONEYVAL Serbia mutual evaluation December 2025 (coe.int/en/web/moneyval); Council of Europe MONEYVAL removal notification 2019. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.