According to the data of the Agency for Business Registers (APR), last year the work of 135,490 companies and 116,551 entrepreneurs who are obliged to submit financial reports were recorded. Of the stated number of companies, exactly 108,856 financial reports were submitted and processed – among them were 528 large, 2,092 medium, 13,172 small and 93,064 micro companies.
This ratio of the number of companies by size – as defined by the current Accounting Law, and in accordance with European norms – shows the similarity of our economy with the economies of other countries in the surrounding area. However, when you take a deeper look at the business results, the specifics of business on the Serbian market are revealed.
The last three years have certainly not been easy for business entities on the entire continent, not even in Serbia. Negative external influences changed (pandemic, disruptions in supply chains, crisis with energy prices), while the internal one should mention a slightly higher jump in inflation at the end of last year and in the first half of this year, caused by the overreaction of certain wholesalers, primarily food products.
All these factors have left their mark on the operations of domestic companies. In our regular column 99 of the most successful, we regularly deal with the personal experiences of company owners and directors, and despite the great results, with which they stood out from the competition and in these market conditions, the vast majority of them point out difficulties in collecting their claims as a negative influence lately.
If we add to that the somewhat difficult crediting of micro firms (larger guarantees and collaterals are required), which are by far the most numerous, with the simultaneous increased borrowing of the largest legal entities, which are essential drivers of the national economy, there is a real risk of creating conditions for a prolonged economic downturn.
