The right of foreigners to acquire real estate in the Republic of Serbia
Teodora Vuksanović
Foreign individuals and legal entities can acquire the right of ownership of immovable property in the territory of the Republic of Serbia through legal transactions "inter vivos" (purchase agreement, gift agreement, etc.) and legal transactions "mortis causa" (inheritance).
Foreign individuals and legal entities that perform activities in the Republic of Serbia may, under conditions of reciprocity, acquire ownership rights to immovable properties on the territory of the Republic of Serbia that are necessary for them to perform that activity.
A foreign individual who does not perform activities in the Republic of Serbia can, under the conditions of reciprocity, acquire the right of ownership of an apartment and residential building just like a citizen of the Republic of Serbia.
A foreign individual can, on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, under conditions of reciprocity, acquire the right of ownership of immovable property by inheritance, just like a citizen of the Republic of Serbia.
The question of the type of reciprocity that is necessary for the acquisition of real estate is not regulated by the Law on the Basics of Ownership Relations, so it is based on the point of view that the existence of contractual reciprocity with a foreign country is not necessary, but it is sufficient that the legislation of that country allows the possibility of acquiring real estate for foreign citizens under the conditions which are not significantly more difficult than the conditions prescribed by our Law, as well as that in practice citizens of our country are allowed to acquire real estate in that country (actual reciprocity).
Contractual reciprocity exists if the Republic of Serbia has signed a bilateral agreement with a foreign country that regulates the acquisition of property rights on real estate for foreigners. The Republic of Serbia has established contractual reciprocity regarding the acquisition of property rights to immovable property through legal transactions inter vivos by natural persons with a small number of countries, most often based on trade and navigation agreements, which were concluded in the first half of the last century. In some of them reciprocity is expressly agreed, and with some it exists through the application of the most-favored-nation clause. Most-favored-nation treatment is defined as the obligation of each contracting party to an international trade agreement to grant to the other contracting party, its natural and legal persons, in the area of their mutual relations, rights, privileges and facilities, to the extent that it has granted them or will grant them in the future grant to any third country, its natural or legal persons.
As for other countries, the Ministry of Justice, on the basis of the legal regulations of foreign countries that regulate this matter, that is, through the exchange of notes, established the existence of reciprocity with many countries.
As for agricultural land, the matter is different. The former paragraph 4 of Article 1 of the Law on Agricultural Land, according to which foreigners could not be owners of agricultural land, was amended and harmonized with the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their member states on the one hand and the Republic of Serbia on the other. Thus, according to these amendments to the Law on Agricultural Land, a citizen of a member state of the European Union can acquire privately owned agricultural land if he has been permanently resident in the local self-government unit in which the sale of agricultural land is carried out for at least ten years, if he cultivates agricultural land for at least three years the subject of legal business with or without compensation, has a registered agricultural holding in active status as the holder of a family agricultural holding, without interruption for at least ten years, and owns machinery and equipment for carrying out agricultural production. The subject of legal work can be agricultural land in private ownership if it is not agricultural land designated as construction land, does not belong to protected natural assets, does not belong to or does not border a military installation and military complex, and is not located in protective zones around military facilities, military complexes, military facilities and military infrastructure facilities, nor does it belong to or border the territory of the Terrestrial Security Zone. The subject of a legal transaction cannot be agricultural land in private ownership located at a distance of up to 10 km from the border of the Republic of Serbia. An EU citizen can acquire a maximum of 2 hectares of agricultural land in private ownership, if he meets all the above conditions.
