Reporting Obligations to the National Bank of Serbia for Unpaid Imports and Uncollected Export Receivables for Goods and Services
Under the Foreign Exchange Operations Law, certain export and import transactions involving goods and services for which payment has not been received or made within a period exceeding one year from the date of export or import are treated as commercial credits and loans. The same applies to goods and services paid for or received in advance that have not been exported or imported within a period exceeding one year from the date of payment.
Such transactions may give rise to reporting obligations to the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) under the regulations governing the reporting of credit transactions with foreign entities.
Which transactions are subject to reporting?
Under the Decision on Reporting on Credit Transactions with Foreign Countries, residents are required to report various types of credit transactions with foreign entities to the NBS, including:
- credit borrowing and credit granting;
- loans in dinars granted by banks to non-residents;
- short-term bank deposits in foreign currency;
- bank guarantees, avals and other forms of surety provided by banks in favour of non-residents, as well as guarantees and sureties relating to credit transactions between two non-residents abroad;
- other transactions that have the characteristics of credit transactions with foreign entities.
Reporting obligations also apply to transactions classified as commercial credits and loans under the Foreign Exchange Operations Law, subject to certain value thresholds.
Value thresholds for reporting obligations
The obligation to report commercial credits and loans arises in the following cases:
- The value of an individual transaction exceeds RSD 100,000, or the equivalent amount in another currency; or
- the value of an individual transaction does not exceed RSD 100,000, but the aggregate value of such transactions carried out by a resident during the reporting period exceeds RSD 1,500,000, or the equivalent amount in another currency.
When determining whether a reporting obligation applies, both the value of individual transactions and the aggregate value of the relevant transactions during the reporting period must be taken into account.
Which transactions are exempt from reporting?
The regulations provide for certain exemptions from the obligation to report to the NBS. These include:
- Compensation transactions carried out within the period specified in the decision of the competent authority approving them, subject to the applicable statutory conditions;
- The purchase of supplier tools abroad that are delivered directly to another country or customs territory for use in contract manufacturing services involving the production of parts for a resident’s manufacturing process.
When relying on these exemptions, it is necessary to verify that the transaction meets all the requirements prescribed by the applicable regulations.
Direct re-export and reporting obligations
Direct re-export transactions are a separate category governed by the Foreign Trade Law.
Under this law, the export of goods means the removal, dispatch or delivery of goods from the territory of the Republic of Serbia to the territory of another country or customs territory, in accordance with Serbian customs regulations. Import, in turn, means the entry, transportation or delivery of goods from the territory of another country or customs territory into the Republic of Serbia.
In a direct re-export transaction, a Serbian entity may purchase goods in another country or customs territory without importing them into Serbia, provided that, under the relevant contract, the goods are delivered directly to another country or customs territory.
Since direct re-export does not involve the export and import of goods within the meaning of the above statutory definitions, direct re-export transactions are not subject to the NBS reporting obligation applicable to commercial credits and loans arising from unpaid exports or unpaid imports of goods.
