This guide is the checklist behind a Serbian bid: each document and step in the order a tender needs it, and who may lawfully handle it. For how Serbian procurement works as a whole (thresholds, procedures, who may bid, evaluation, review), see How to bid for public tenders in Serbia.
Before you bid
1. Your company’s APR record and PIB. A Serbian company already has its registration number from the Business Registers Agency (Agencija za privredne registre, APR) and its tax ID (PIB) from the Tax Administration. When you register on the portal, it fills in your organisation’s data from the APR and Treasury databases, so check that they match.
- From abroad: you register with your home-country data and prove your status with home documents.
2. Your company’s account on the Public Procurement Portal (jnportal.ujn.gov.rs). A one-time registration as an organisation, free of charge. Until the account is approved you can’t ask questions, submit bids or file review requests. The Public Procurement Office checks and approves it; no approval time is published. The account then stays open, as long as you keep its data up to date.
- How it works: your company authorises one person to register it. That person enters the company’s and their own data and uploads their ID card or passport, together with an authorisation on company letterhead signed by your company’s authorised person. The first person registered becomes the account’s administrator.
- Who does it: the data and the authorisation can be prepared for you. Your authorised person signs the authorisation, and the person registering uploads their own ID.
- From abroad: the same process, with a passport, and the same approval by the Office.
3. Further users for your team, if you need them. Your administrator registers each additional person, who works within the rights granted. It is free, same day, and lasts until the user is disabled. Each user has their own account and must never pass on the password; using someone else’s account can get it blocked. The instruction treats users as the organisation’s employees, so an outside consultant becomes a user only if the Office accepts a letterhead authorisation for them.
4. The APR register of bidders (optional). A public register for companies that bid often. Once you’re entered, you are deemed free of the criminal-conviction and tax and contribution exclusion grounds, so you needn’t send that evidence again. The court, police and tax certificates can be gathered for you; your company files the application with the APR itself. The entry lasts until it is deleted.
With your bid
5. The Declaration of fulfilment of criteria. A standard form, set by the Public Procurement Office and based on the ESPD, in which you state that no exclusion ground applies and that you meet the selection criteria, naming who issues the evidence. It also covers environmental, social and labour obligations, including paying contracted wages, over the previous 2 years. It is free, and can be reused while it stays accurate. Each group member, subcontractor and company whose capacity you rely on files its own.
- Who does it: completed for you on the portal; you confirm it is true, because it is submitted under your company’s account.
6. Serbian text and translations. Tenders are in Serbian unless the buyer permits a foreign language, and prices in a named foreign currency; the Serbian version is authentic. A court interpreter (sudski tumač) translates foreign documents, which are then uploaded by your user.
7. A group agreement, if you bid jointly. Along with a declaration from each member, the agreement names the leader and sets out each member’s responsibilities, as the tender documents require. An advokat can draft it; every member signs.
8. The tender security, where the tender requires one. At most 3% of the tender value excluding VAT, usually a bank guarantee or another instrument named in the documents, and it must cover the tender validity, at least 30 days. You lose it if you withdraw, fail to supply evidence, refuse to sign or fail to provide the performance security. You arrange it with your bank and pay its fees. Anything that can’t go in electronically is delivered by post, courier or hand.
9. Submitting the e-bid on the portal. Free, through the portal, up to 30 documents; the portal’s own clock sets the time of receipt. The bid must remain valid for at least 30 days.
- Who does it: every document can be prepared for you, but the bid is submitted from a registered user account of your company: your own user, unless a partner has been properly registered as your user.
- No qualified signature: no requirement for one was found for submitting bids; the account’s username and password are used.
If you’re the best-ranked bidder
Before the decision, the buyer asks the most economically advantageous bidder for its evidence, as unverified copies, within at least 5 working days. At or below RSD 5 million the buyer needn’t ask. If you don’t supply it, your bid is rejected. A company in the APR register of bidders skips the criminal-record and tax certificates.
| Document | Issued by | Who handles it | What only you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal-record certificate for the company (no convictions for organised crime, corruption, fraud, tax evasion, terrorism, money laundering or trafficking) | The competent court | Requested by the company, or by a lawyer under a power of attorney where the court allows | — |
| Criminal-record certificate for the legal representative | The police (MUP) | The person requests it, or a lawyer under a power of attorney where allowed | Request your own certificate |
| Tax and social-insurance clearance (taxes and contributions settled, or a binding deferral) | Poreska uprava and the local public revenue administration | An accountant keeps your obligations settled | Request the certificates through your own e-tax access |
| No bankruptcy or liquidation, an optional ground (Art. 112), where the tender includes it | The commercial court or the APR | A lawyer or partner can request it where permitted | — |
| Selection evidence (experience, staff, equipment, turnover), as listed in the tender documents; you may rely on other companies’ capacity | You, your previous customers, your accountant | A consultant assembles it; an accountant supplies the financial part | Provide the underlying documents |
| Construction licences for works and design | The Ministry of Construction; the Engineering Chamber of Serbia | A licensed engineer holds the personal licence or supports the application | Apply for the company licence |
Construction and design. Companies registered in Serbia, branches of foreign companies included, need the ministry’s licences. A foreign engineer needs a Serbian licence, valid for 1 year and renewable, which depends on reciprocity, a recognised degree, experience and an exam.
Before the contract
The performance and warranty securities, where required. At most 10% of the contract value excluding VAT each, from a bank, for the contract or warranty period. An advance payment needs a security equal to the advance. You arrange them and pay the bank’s fees.
The contract is signed by your authorised representative, on paper or electronically under the laws on e-documents and e-signatures, with the performance security supplied.
Who does what
| Step | Who can do it | What only you do |
|---|---|---|
| APR record and PIB | Checked for you against the portal data | — |
| Portal registration | Data and authorisation prepared for you | Your authorised person signs the letterhead authorisation; the registering person uploads their own ID |
| Further portal users | Your administrator | Register and disable users; keep your own password |
| APR register of bidders | Certificates gathered for you | File the application as the company |
| Declaration of fulfilment of criteria | Completed for you on the portal | Confirm it is true |
| Translations | A court interpreter | — |
| Group agreement | An advokat | Each member signs |
| Tender security | Your bank | Arrange the instrument |
| E-bid submission | Everything prepared for you | Submit from your own user account |
| Evidence as best-ranked bidder | Assembled for you in advance | Upload it under your account; request personal certificates |
| Tax clearance | An accountant keeps obligations settled | Request it under your own login |
| Construction licences | A licensed engineer | Apply for the company licence |
| Performance security and contract | Your bank | Arrange the security; sign the contract |
| Request for protection of rights | An advokat under a power of attorney, also as your proxy in Serbia | Grant the power of attorney; pay the fee |
The professionals involved
| Professional | Licensed or regulated by | What they do for a bidder |
|---|---|---|
| Advokat | Advokatska komora Srbije (Bar Association of Serbia) and the regional bars | File the request for protection of rights through the portal under a power of attorney; act as the proxy in Serbia that foreign applicants must name to receive mail; draft the group-bid (zajednička ponuda) agreement and authorisations |
| Public-procurement consultant | — | Prepare the Declaration of fulfilment of criteria, the price forms and the documents; track the evidence a best-ranked bidder must supply within at least 5 working days |
| Accountant, accounting agency or auditor | Ministry of Finance, under the Law on Accounting; Chamber of Authorised Auditors | Keep taxes and social-insurance contributions settled so the Tax Administration certificate can be issued; prepare financial statements and turnover evidence |
| Javni beležnik (public notary) | Chamber of Public Notaries of Serbia; Ministry of Justice | Verify the declaration under criminal and material liability that replaces exclusion evidence where a home country issues none; certify copies and signatures when buyers ask for originals or verified copies |
| Sudski tumač (court interpreter) | Ministry of Justice | Translate foreign evidence into Serbian |
| Bank | National Bank of Serbia | Issue the tender security (at most 3% excluding VAT), performance and warranty securities (at most 10%) and advance-payment guarantees |
| Licensed engineer | Inženjerska komora Srbije (Engineering Chamber of Serbia); Ministry of Construction | Provide the responsible-contractor and designer licences that works and design tenders require |
If your company is from abroad
The procurement law doesn’t require a Serbian company or branch, although for works Serbian construction licensing may in practice mean a registered branch or licensed local subcontractors; who may bid, and on what terms, is in How to bid for public tenders in Serbia. For the paperwork:
- Portal: register with your home-country data and a passport, and prove your status with home documents.
- Criminal records: an extract from your home criminal records, or its equivalent.
- Tax: a certificate from your home tax authority.
- Where your country issues no such evidence: a written declaration under criminal and material liability, signed by your legal representative before a court, an administrative authority or a notary at home.
- Bankruptcy: your home certificate, where the tender asks.
- Translations: foreign documents in Serbian, unless the buyer permits another language; selection evidence translated too.
- Works and design: a licensing check, as a branch or licensed local subcontractors may be needed in practice.
- Review requests: name a proxy in Serbia.
Pitfalls
- Never share a portal login. Passing a password to a third party or using another person’s account breaks the portal’s rules and can get the account blocked.
- Start the portal registration early. The Office approves accounts by hand, and no approval time is published.
- Keep your account data current. The registration lasts, but only while its data is kept up to date.
- Have the evidence ready before you rank first. The buyer can give you as little as 5 working days, and missing evidence means rejection, and the loss of any tender security.
- Check product origin on utilities supply tenders. Under Art. 176 a utility may reject a supply tender where over 50% of the products come from third states without an EU-access agreement, and apply a 3% price preference.
- Line up a proxy before you challenge. A foreign company filing a request for protection of rights must name one in Serbia.
Doing it with askTender
In Serbia, portal users are the company’s own staff unless the Office accepts an authorisation, so you log in and press submit yourself, in a guided session with askTender. Everything before that is prepared for you: the askTender Desk prepares the Declaration of fulfilment of criteria, the price and technical documents and the evidence pack, and tracks the deadlines; askTender Partners, such as an advokat, an accountant, a court interpreter or a notary, do the steps their licence covers. You sign only what the law reserves to you: the letterhead authorisation for the portal, the declarations you confirm, any declaration before a notary, the securities and the contract.
Questions
Which documents go in with a bid in Serbia?
The Declaration of fulfilment of criteria, a standard form based on the ESPD, with a separate one for each group member, subcontractor and company whose capacity you rely on; your price and technical documents; Serbian translations of any foreign documents; a group agreement if you bid jointly; and a tender security where the tender requires one. The bid goes in on the Public Procurement Portal, up to 30 documents.
Do I need a qualified electronic signature to bid in Serbia?
No requirement was found for submitting bids: they go in from your company’s portal account, with its username and password. A qualified electronic signature matters if the contract is concluded electronically, and then only your authorised representative signs.
Which certificates does the best-ranked bidder provide?
Above RSD 5 million, or when the buyer asks, criminal-record certificates for the company from the competent court and for its legal representative from the police, tax and social-insurance clearance from the Tax Administration and the local tax administration, and, where the tender includes that ground, a certificate of no bankruptcy or liquidation. Plain copies are enough, and you get at least 5 working days.
What is the APR register of bidders?
A voluntary public register kept by the Business Registers Agency. A company entered in it is deemed free of the criminal-conviction and tax exclusion grounds, so it doesn’t send that evidence again. The company files the application with the APR itself, and the entry lasts until deletion.
Can a consultant submit my bid on the Serbian portal?
Portal users are framed as the company’s own employees, and no one may use another person’s account or password. An outside consultant can be registered as your user only if the Public Procurement Office accepts a letterhead authorisation for them; otherwise they prepare everything and your own user submits.
Sources
- Law on Public Procurement, official English consolidated text
- Instruction on using the Public Procurement Portal (English)
- Instruction amending the portal instruction (2023, English)
- Engineering Chamber of Serbia: licences for foreign persons
This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.