Despite being one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the mankind, 20th century represents one of the brightest spots in the evolution of technology. Except for the general enthusiasm in all branches over the industry, the second half of the century has been fertile when it comes to executing some revolutionary ideas.

Writing an editorial proved to be equally as challenging as operating in the CEE legal market. For the record, I will confine my experiences mostly to the region of the Western Balkans. In hindsight, the past year(s) were something of a specialty, even by our own criteria and relative to our extensive experience. But let’s start from the beginning…

CEELMDirect Profile Pick: A series of interviews with partners and firms with profiles on the new CEELMDirect online legal directory. Today’s interview: Djordje Novcic, Partner at JPM.

The long-awaited legal framework defining entrance and residence permits for digital nomads – Law on amendments to the Law on Foreigners (“Law”) has been adopted in the Parliament of Montenegro and it shall enter into force on 11 August 2022.

Despite being already recognized as one of the leading European countries regarding foreign investments, the Republic of Serbia continues its active policy of attracting foreign investors. The direct consequence of the substantial increasement in investments in a plethora of different fields is the fact that there are even more and more foreign natural and legal persons willing to invest in producing audiovisual works on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Serbia recognized this trend and took measures to improve the environment for investing in audiovisual works within the so-called creative industries (e.g. films, short films, TV shows, documentaries, animated films, etc. ‘’Industry’’).

The Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (“AERS”) adopted three decisions on amendments of the following methodologies, on its session held on 7 July 2022:

Today, perhaps more than ever before, commercial use of Software is of great value and many Software developers design and develop Software for licensing or sale to end users, or those serving a commercial purpose in an ever-growing market.

Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Regulation on Criteria for Granting Incentives to the Employers who Employ Newly Inhabited Persons in the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulation”),  published in the Official Gazette of the RS no. 67/22 and entered into force on 18 June 2022. 

On 19 May 2022, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Regulation on the temporary measure of limiting the price of gas and compensating for the difference in the price of natural gas, procured from imports or produced in the Republic of Serbia, in case of disturbances on the natural gas market, which regulation was published in the Official gazette of the RS no. 59/2022.

On 18 May 2022, a Bill on Amendments to the Law on foreigners (hereinafter: “Bill”), was submitted to the Parliament, introducing legislative solutions for obtaining visas and residence permits for digital nomads.

The global events and current energy crisis have demonstrated once again the imperative of continuous development of the energy sector and its modernization, which is both time-consuming and financially burdensome, but inevitable for the sustainability of the economy and overall society. It has additionally pointed out the real need for the equal or quasi-equal level of development of the electricity, gas and oil sector and increased dynamic development of the renewables energy market and, the imperative of having a firm orientation to diversification and establishment of different routes and different sources of supply. There is  a necessity of having a long-term strategic determination to stability and security of supply and national strategic plan to achieve it.

Serbian Personal Income Tax Law and Serbian Corporate Income Tax Law, as well as the Serbian Law on Mandatory Social Insurance Contributions, prescribe tax and social insurance contributions related reliefs for companies that conduct activities of research and development in the Republic of Serbia.

More countries, that have, until recently, been considered the pandemic’s epicenter, are easing COVID restrictions. Serbia takes the same direction and cancels majority of COVID-19 related restrictive measures.

Energy has been Jankovic Popovic Mitic’s busiest practice, according to Senior Partner Jelena Gazivoda, mainly driven by Serbia’s long-standing aspiration to achieve energy stability and security of supply and bolstered by recent legislative amendments and the expected energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

Jankovic Popovic Mitic has successfully represented FCC Kikinda before a Serbian court of first instance in a criminal case concerning environmental charges.

Usage of corporate cards issued by goods and services providers to their corporate clients, have been recognized and regulated by the latest amendments of relevant Serbian regulations related to fiscalization and to VAT.

Electronic measurement of working hours based on processing of location data is permitted under data protection and labour regulations under the following conditions:

The Government of Montenegro passed a Bill of the Law on Electronic Document („Bill“) which is now waiting to be passed by the Parliament of Montenegro. Among other things, the Covid-19 epidemic revealed the weaknesses of the public administration in terms of the digitalization of the public administration but also of the legal framework concerning the creation, usage and archiving of electronic documents both in the public administration as well as in private legal affairs, which makes the adoption of this Bill of great importance for the continuation of the digitalization process.