When a foreign owner has no reliable representative in Serbia

Starting point

The client is an EU holding company with a manufacturing subsidiary in Serbia. Owners visit Belgrade once a quarter. Locally, a director has been formally appointed, but without a real mandate and without enough time for tax, legal and HR topics.

Problem

• The accountant sends reports, but without context or recommendations.
• The lawyer only steps in once a problem escalates.
• Decisions from head office arrive in Serbia with a 2–3 week delay.
• The owner does not know which obligations are coming next month.

What we did

We took over the role of local legal representative and introduced a monthly operating rhythm: one point of contact, one report, a clear agenda before every important decision. All interactions with the Tax Administration and APR go through us.

Result

• Time from decision to execution dropped from 3 weeks to 3 days.
• Not a single tax deadline missed in the first 12 months.
• The owner receives one structured monthly report instead of five separate ones.

The lesson

Ownership is bought. Control is built — through a local executive arm that speaks both the language of the owner and the language of regulation.