Serbian companies are gaining access to corporate bonds, development-finance instruments and a growing pool of strategic capital, yet commercial banks remain the central source of funding. Banks account for more than 90 per cent of financial-sector assets, while corporate credit continued expanding in the first quarter of 2026. Corporate claims stood at about 18.2 per cent of GDP during the quarter, with corporate loans increasing by RSD27bn. Working capital represented the largest borrowing purpose, ahead of investment financing, underscoring the continuing role of bank balance sheets in meeting companies’ day-to-day funding requirements.
For larger borrowers, the available financing mix also includes EBRD, EIB and IFC facilities, syndicated loans and funding from parent companies. Smaller and medium-sized businesses continue to depend more heavily on bilateral bank facilities, shareholder capital, supplier credit and retained earnings. Venture capital and private equity have developed in individual sectors but remain limited relative to the overall financial system.
Development institutions expand the financing options
The country’s largest lenders include Banca Intesa, OTP, Raiffeisen, UniCredit, AIK, NLB Komercijalna, Banka Poštanska štedionica and Erste. Large companies can supplement these relationships with international development institutions and syndicated structures, while smaller businesses have fewer alternatives to conventional bank borrowing. Development lenders have also introduced structures that are not widely available through the domestic market. The EBRD’s €60mn package for HTEC supports acquisition-led expansion, while its €40mn sustainability-linked loan to MK Group connects financing with environmental and social targets.
Guarantees and risk-sharing arrangements involving international institutions and local banks can extend loan maturities or allow financing for companies that would otherwise fall below conventional commercial lending thresholds. These transactions are expanding the range of available corporate finance while also demonstrating the limited depth of alternative funding sources available without institutional support.
Corporate bonds return to the Serbian market
The domestic bond market began rebuilding a public issuance channel after a prolonged absence. Elixir Group raised RSD4.10bn through a green corporate-bond issue in April 2025, marking the first primary corporate offering on the Belgrade exchange in more than a decade. The market gained another significant issue in March 2026, when Fashion Company completed a €72mn seven-year bond, fully subscribed at a pricing formula of three-month BELIBOR plus 1 percentage point. A World Bank-supported pipeline identified nine additional potential issuers by mid-2026.
Corporate bonds could provide established companies with longer-term financing and diversify refinancing sources while creating publicly priced credit instruments for investors. Such instruments could also broaden the assets available to insurers and pension funds, whose portfolios remain heavily concentrated in government securities. Issuance still faces requirements involving disclosure, ratings and transaction costs, alongside a thin secondary market and strong investor preference for sovereign debt. A limited number of private placements and development-supported transactions has not yet produced a self-sustaining corporate bond market.
Equity funding remains less developed
Alternative equity financing is considerably smaller. The Belgrade Stock Exchange has not become a regular exit mechanism for owner-managed Serbian companies, while many founders continue to regard public disclosure primarily as a cost rather than a route to capital. Capital-market reforms therefore face the task of establishing another financing channel for companies with sufficient governance and scale to access investors beyond the banking sector. For most businesses, however, bank credit remains the primary external financing instrument.
Telecommunications highlights Serbia’s larger transactions
The country’s biggest corporate transactions increasingly involve strategic consolidation. In telecommunications, PPF agreed to acquire SBB Serbia for €825mn from United Group, followed by the merger of SBB into Yettel Serbia on 1 April 2026. Other Serbian media and broadcasting assets involved in the broader transaction were sold separately. The transaction brought together telecommunications infrastructure and customer bases, alongside opportunities for cross-selling in an established communications market.
Other transactions demonstrate the importance of regulatory and geopolitical conditions to deal completion. MOL’s proposed acquisition of the Russian shareholders’ 56.2 per cent stake in NIS remained subject to US sanctions-related issues and approvals in August 2026. Raiffeisen Bank International’s offer for Addiko received acceptances representing a majority of the shares but remained subject to outstanding conditions. In strategic sectors, therefore, transaction financing is only one component of execution. Regulatory approvals and geopolitical considerations can determine whether an announced transaction proceeds.
Domestic buyers are becoming more active
Private-equity and strategic investors have also expanded their presence in services and consumer-facing businesses. The acquisition of MediGroup by Finland’s Mehiläinen represents a healthcare platform transaction, while HTEC’s development-finance package supports consolidation in the technology sector. CVC, MidEuropa and BC Partners, together with regional investment funds, have contributed to private-equity benchmarks in Serbia. At the same time, domestic and regional companies including Nelt, MK Group and Telekom Srbija are increasingly pursuing opportunities beyond their established markets. This is changing Serbia’s position in the regional transaction market, with domestic groups increasingly participating as buyers as well as operating companies being acquired.
Mid-sized companies emerge as the next transaction pool
Complete transaction statistics remain difficult to establish because many Serbian deals are private and purchase prices are not disclosed. As a result, aggregate rankings can give an incomplete picture of the market. A significant pool of potential transactions is forming among businesses established by founders after the 1990s. Succession decisions, labour shortages and rising compliance costs are increasing the relevance of scale, while acquisition can provide a faster route to regional expansion than building new operations from scratch.
Potential consolidation targets span distribution, food processing, logistics, private healthcare, software, environmental services and specialist manufacturing. Different sources of capital can play different roles: domestic banks can provide senior debt, development institutions can share risk, regional private-equity investors can contribute equity and governance, and strategic buyers can pay for operating synergies. The financing gap remains in the middle of the capital structure, particularly for mezzanine finance, private credit and public equity aimed at businesses that are too complex for conventional bank lending but too small for major international funds.
Serbia’s corporate-finance market is consequently developing along two tracks. Large mergers and acquisitions can involve international strategic investors and substantial transaction values, while routine corporate funding remains predominantly bilateral and bank-led. The emergence of repeat corporate-bond issuance and the ability of domestic groups to reinvest proceeds from completed transactions will determine how quickly that balance changes.
