Our Founder & Managing Partner Bogdan Gecić recently held a key discussion at Bloomberg Adria Serbia on the ramifications of the expected introduction of EU’s CBAM for the Adria & Balkans region. Bogdan discussed what this revolutionary new trade instrument, which will take effect in 2023, means for all companies from the Western Balkans and beyond that export to the EU. If adopted by the EU Council, every importer in the EU will have to pay tax on the goods they import into the EU if the goods are produced in countries that do not have an Emissions Trading System […]
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At today’s session, the Executive Board of the NBS decided to again raise key interest rates by 50 basis points, to 3.5% ,, the deposit facility rate – to 2.5% and the credit facility rate – to 4.5%. The NBS had previously increased the key interest rate as per the decision of the Executive Board on August 11, this year. The NBS’s Executive Board continued to tighten the monetary policy.,attributing this trend to increasingly rising inflationary pressure. According to the NBS, the Executive Board assessed that, in the conditions of continued price pressures, as well as the growth of imported […]
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ESG awareness is more than essential. Organizing various panel discussions on relevant topics is a must. Yet, what type of example does an event that encourages environmental sustainability set forth if they print a ton of unnecessary paper, each delegate travels to the venue with their own car or provide an all-you-can-eat buffet which leads to an embarrassing amount of food wastage. As they say, practice what you preach. Yesterday, our team Branko Gabrić, Counsel and Nikola Kovačević, Business Development Manager attended the Net 0 event in Maribor which was co-organized by the Institute of Strategic Solutions (ISR), Ministry of […]
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With ESG becoming such a hot topic and the global sustainable finance market reaching more than USD 35 trillion in value, there are expectations of further growth in this rapidly expanding sector. The growth is fuelled on one hand by greater standardization in the area in major economies, including the EU taxonomy, but also a rise in innovation and an ever-greater variety of financial products that fall within this category. Case in point, interesting news has just recently came from the sector. On August 29th, one of the biggest banks in Europe, Raiffeisen Bank International AG announced that it has […]
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For many individuals, consumer rights amount to an everyday battle. With the latest amendments to regulations, out-of-court dispute resolution are increasingly becoming a viable option. Suppose a consumer is not satisfied with the outcome of a settlement of a complaint filed with a merchant. The consumer dispute can be resolved out of court with the help of a third party who, according to the Consumer Protection Act (“Act”), must be: neutral, independent and impartial. As part of Serbia’s digitalization efforts, a platform has been established to satisfy these needs. What is it all about? The IT platform for out-of-court settlement […]
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For many individuals, consumer rights amount to an everyday battle. With the latest amendments to regulations, out-of-court dispute resolution are increasingly becoming a viable option. Suppose a consumer is not satisfied with the outcome of a settlement of a complaint filed with a merchant. The consumer dispute can be resolved out of court with the help of a third party who, according to the Consumer Protection Act (“Act”), must be: neutral, independent and impartial. As part of Serbia’s digitalization efforts, a platform has been established to satisfy these needs. What is it all about? The IT platform for out-of-court settlement […]
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The Open Balkans initiative aims to encourage and facilitate cooperation among the Balkans countries. The initiative was conceived across the Balkans, where the different cities symbolize the various stages in the development of the Open Balkans initiative. In this article, we present the chronology of building ties between the countries by virtually visiting six key locations. (Note: If you decide to visit these towns, we advise you to create your itinerary on Google Maps, not by this article :D). The first location associated with the birth of the Open Balkans project (as we know it today) is Novi Sad, and […]
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As we discussed last week, the National Bank of Serbia (“NBS”) decided to hike the interest rate to 3%. In addition to this decision, several other measures were introduced aimed at reducing the growing inflationary pressures affecting the economy of Serbia. One of the measures is the decision that all banks that have increased their fees for payment services since January 1, 2021, will reduce those fees by 30% starting September 1 or reduce these fees prior levels. According to the NBS, the aggregate benefit of this measure to individual clients will amount to 7 billion dinars. In addition, NBS […]
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Despite rapid developments in technology and business, EU laws on e-commerce have not been updated for more than 20 years. To keep up with the digital revolution, the EU Parliament („EP“) adopted the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) and the Digital Services Act (“DSA”). The DMA was adopted in July 2022 and it will start to apply at the beginning of 2023. As for the DSA, it is expected to be implemented in early 2024. Why was the DMA adopted? This act provides a framework that is tailored to the major influence of the largest digital companies, known as “gatekeepers” – […]
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The Executive Board of Serbia’s Central Bank (“NBS”) voted today to raise key interest rates by 25 basis points to 3%, in a fifth hike this year. The credit facility rate is now 4% and the deposit facility rate is 2%, all increased by 25 basis points. The Executive Board decided that an additional tightening of the monetary policy is necessary, and that year-on-year inflation is expected to peak during the current quarter and then start declining. In conditions of continued cost pressures and growth of imported inflation beyond all expectations, the NBS is aiming for a balanced approach that […]
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