Serbian companies are borrowing at one of the strongest rates of recent years, but banks are simultaneously tightening lending standards, creating a growing market for businesses that can structure financing, manage collateral and demonstrate bankability.
Corporate loans were 11.7% higher year on year in June, while new corporate lending during the second quarter reached RSD 436.4 billion, equivalent to roughly €3.7 billion, an increase of 27.2% from a year earlier.
The composition is particularly important.
Around 58% of new loans were for liquidity and working capital, while 28% were investment loans.
Investment lending itself accelerated, with outstanding investment loans increasing 14.6% year on year.
Smaller companies are participating strongly in the cycle.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for roughly 65% of the increase in corporate loans during Q2, while their total borrowing grew 12.6% year on year.
But credit is not becoming easier indiscriminately.
Banks reported tightening corporate lending standards during the quarter because of funding costs, competition, risk perceptions and broader uncertainty.
They also tightened pricing, fees, collateral requirements, maturities and maximum loan sizes.
Average rates on new corporate lending reached around 7.1% for dinar loans and 5.1% for euro and euro-indexed loans.
Smaller companies generally paid more than large borrowers.
That combination — strong demand and stricter underwriting — creates a market for services that have historically been less developed among Serbian mid-sized companies.
Financial modelling, debt structuring, covenant management, refinancing, working-capital optimisation, factoring and supply-chain finance should become more important.
Export companies have an additional opportunity.
Growing exports create receivables that can support factoring, export-credit insurance and invoice financing.
Industrial companies investing in equipment can combine commercial bank loans with development-bank and international-financial-institution financing.
PWO’s Čačak project illustrates the model: a €31 million investment combining €15 million of EIB financing, company funds and Serbian public support.
Energy and CBAM requirements could add another layer.
Banks financing factories increasingly need reliable information about energy costs, environmental exposure and export-market compliance.
Renewable projects similarly require structured technical, legal and commercial due diligence.
Serbia’s banking market is therefore moving beyond simple availability of credit.
The emerging opportunity lies in making companies financeable.
As investment requirements increase and underwriting becomes more detailed, the businesses able to translate industrial projects into credible financial cases should become increasingly valuable intermediaries between Serbia’s banks and its expanding corporate sector.
