The Law on Business Companies ("Official Gazette of the RS" No. 36/11, 99/11, 83/14, 5/15, 44/18, 95/18, 91/19 and 109/21) ("the Law on Business Companies") regulates the legal position of business companies and other forms of organization, especially their establishment, status changes, changes in legal form and other issues, as well as the legal position of entrepreneurs.

It is legally stipulated that the following legal forms can be registered in the register of business entities:

1) Business companies (partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company);

2) Branch and/or representative office of a foreign company;

3) Cooperative and/or cooperative union;

4) Another subject if it is prescribed by a special law.

In addition to the above, natural persons can also register as entrepreneurs, in order to perform activities with the aim of generating income.

The registration procedure is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Registration Procedure in the Agency for Business Registers ("Official Gazette of RS" no. 99/11, 83/14, 31/19 and 105/21).

The procedure for establishing a company (firm) is carried out before the competent authority, the Agency for Business Registers ("APR"), by submitting a registration application on the prescribed form of the APR, with the attachment of appropriate documentation, and the deadline for the APR to decide whether the application will be accepted or rejected is a maximum of 5 working days.

In the case of approval of the application, the APR makes a decision on adoption and publishes the decision, in which way legal personality is acquired (when the subject of the decision is a company that has legal personality).

So far in practice, we have most often encountered inquiries from natural persons whether they should establish an LLC or start business as entrepreneurs. In short, in this regard, we point out that an entrepreneur does not have the status of a legal entity and is liable for the obligations arising from business, with all assets, while an LLC has the status of a legal entity, whose assets are separated from the assets of the founders/members, i.e. the members/founders are not liable with their assets.