With the amendments to the Law on the Registration Procedure in the Agency for Business Registers from November 2021, the Agency for Business Registers ("APR") is obliged to accept the application for establishment of a company exclusively in electronic form, but the application of this provision has been postponed for 18 months.

In accordance with the above, the mentioned changes will enter into force on May 17, 2023, i.e. the registration application for the establishment of business companies will be submitted to the APR exclusively in electronic form.

Consequently, from May 17, 2023, it will no longer be possible to submit an application for the establishment of a company to the APR in paper form.

Therefore, from May 17, 2023, the procedure for establishing business companies will only be possible in electronic form online, and it will no longer be possible to do it in paper form, by handing it over to the premises of the APR.

In order for a person to establish a business company by submitting an electronic registration application, it is necessary to have a qualified electronic certificate (electronic signature), an installed electronic card reader, an installed NEXU application for electronic signature, as well as an open account on the system for centralized registration of users of the Agency for Economic Registers, in order to access the information system, and finally a Visa, MasterCard or Dina payment card to pay the APR fee for establishment.

In contrast to the procedures for certifying the founding act at a notary public, during the electronic establishment of a business company, the founders will sign the founding act with their electronic certificate.

So, on that side, a certain saving is achieved because the costs of notary public certification are avoided.

If a person does not have the conditions listed above for the electronic establishment of a company, he can authorize another person (the law office has the prerequisites listed above) to do so on his behalf and for his account (the founder must certainly sign the founding document electronically).