SERBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Uroš Popović and Stefan Golubović, Drašković Popović & Partners
1. Aircraft and Engine Purchase and Sale 1.1 Sales Agreements 1.1.1 Taxes/Duties Payable Upon Execution of the Sales Agreement Upon the execution of a sale and purchase agree - ment, the seller has to pay the absolute rights transfer tax. The tax rate levied is 2.5% of the purchase price. 1.1.2 Enforceability Against Domestic Parties From the Serbian law perspective, a sale and purchase agreement needs to be notarised to be enforceable against the domestic party. However, a translation of the sale and purchase agreement is only neces - sary if it is to be used before the authorities in Serbia including, but not limited to, the courts. If a sale and purchase agreement is to be governed by a foreign law, its validity will be assessed from the perspective of the governing law. 1.2 Transfer of Ownership 1.2.1 Transferring Title A duly executed sale and purchase agreement under Serbian law will present the basis for the transfer of title to an aircraft from one party to another. The trans - fer will be perfected through its entry in the aircraft register. If the sale and purchase agreement were to concern the sale of the entire aircraft the agreement would automatically entail the sale of all of its integral parts including engines. The sale and purchase agree - ment may also have the sale and purchase of an indi - vidual part of an aircraft, eg, the engine, as its subject. In addition, the sale of ownership interest in an entity that owns an aircraft or engine will not effectively be recognised as a sale of the aircraft or engine itself as long as the sold entity remains the owner. 1.2.2 Sales Governed by English or New York Law Serbian law will in principle recognise the transfer of title to an aircraft that is registered in a foreign register if the transfer of title was governed by English or New York law. 1.2.3 Enforceability Against Domestic Parties A bill of sale, governed by the foreign law, does not need to be translated, certified, notarised or legalised
in order for it to be enforceable against the domestic party. However, translation of the bill of sale is nec - essary if it were to be used before the authorities in Serbia including, but not limited to, the courts. 1.2.4 Registration, Filing and/or Consent From Government Entities If a bill of sale were to be registered in the Serbian Air - craft Register the following steps will have to be taken. Firstly, an aircraft can be registered in the Serbian Aircraft Register if it is not registered with a foreign aircraft register and one of the following conditions is met: • the aircraft owner (in whole or in part) is Serbia, a legal entity or entrepreneur registered in Serbia; • the aircraft owner (in whole or in part) is a citizen of Serbia, with a permanent residence in Serbia or abroad, if the home airport of the aircraft is in Serbia; • the aircraft operator is a legal entity, entrepreneur or natural person whose corporate seat or perma - nent residence is in Serbia; or • the aircraft owner or operator is a foreign natural or legal entity and consent has been obtained from the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infra - structure. The process of registering an aircraft with the Aircraft Register consists of: • applying to the Commercial Court in Belgrade for a resolution on the registration of aircraft. The following documentation is needed: a bill of sale; excerpts from the relevant registers; and any other document that could be requested by the judge based at their own discretion; and • filling out an application form and submitting it to the Civil Aviation Directorate along with the court resolution. There is no legally prescribed timeframe but the total process is expected to take approximately one month.
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