The number of corrupt managers constantly increasing – 271 enterprises on the SBRA “black list”

The “black list” of corrupt companies in Serbia currently contains 271 enterprises. That's how many have been listed in the central register of the Serbian Business Registers Agency and the rights of their managers have been temporarily restricted, either by re-registering the company or being in charge of its assets, depending on the sanction which placed them in the register. Still, even though it was expected that the new register of the so-called temporary restrictions of rights would be full of companies which had violated the regulations, most of those on the list did not find themselves there thanks to court decision and orders, but thanks to tax control.

When the tax collectors enter an enterprise, the company is forbidden from having its status changed in any way while the control is in progress, from being deleted from the register to changing the info on the co-owners. This Article of the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration was in force even before the new register was established, but even then, the SBRA refused to register these changes which they were informed about by the tax control. The point is that the data is now public. This still doesn't mean, however, that all the enterprises undergoing tax control will be listed in the register.

- The Serbian Business Registers Agency cannot delete a business entity from the register, nor register the changes in status and change the data relating to co-owners or members, the company's name, headquarters, shares or organization structure in the period starting with the receipt of the notice by the Tax Administration that tax control will be carried out of a business entity until the receipt of the notice that tax control has been carried out – the SBRA points out.

This practically means that whether an enterprise finds itself in the central registry of temporary restrictions of rights depends only on the agility of the tax authorities. The first ones to “fall” were companies from Kragujevac: 72 of them are now listed in the register based on the notices by the local tax administration. To clarify, the TA of Kragujevac informed the SBRA that the tax control of certain enterprises would be carried out. That was the basis for listing these companies in the register, whereas the “lifting of the restrictions” will follow when the same local tax authority informs the SBRA that the control has been carried out. Each listing in and deletion from the SBRA's new register is done on the basis of decisions, orders and notices by courts and competent authorities. This is how some of the 72 companies from Kragujevac have already been deleted from the register based on the notices by tax collectors from Kragujevac.

No bankruptcies

The Central Register of Temporary Restrictions of Rights was initially conceived in a much more ambitius manner, but the draft law which prescribed the listing of the managers who deliberately lead their companies into bankruptcy didn't survive the public hearing. As well, the “black list of managers” who caused their companies' accounts to get blocked and who couldn't be deleted from the list for 120 consecutive days was planned, but this stipulation wasn't included in the final version of the law either. The grounds for a company's data to be listed in the registry are imposition of criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions by commercial, civil and other courts and the Tax Administration, competent inspection authorities, ministries...

Agencija za privredne registre

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Poreska uprava Srbije

Grad Kragujevac

black list

corrupt managers list

SBRA

Law on Tax Procedure

tax control

Central Register of Temporary Restrictions of Rights of Entities

bankruptcy

criminal charges

civil charges