Individual Corruption

More than 200,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are living on Serbian territory. They often face problems of insufficient security of tenure and risk eviction due to privatisations in the housing market. This is especially the case of IDPs living in collective centres. Many IDPs have lost personal documents, and the lack of documentation causes some to live in informal or illegal settlements.

Business Corruption

According to the US Department of State 2010, the Serbian land administration system is in a poor state and suffers from corruption. Land records often do not match the legal registers kept in municipal courts, which results in a long waiting period for resolving such problems. In addition, real estate registers are incomplete and outdated. In many cases, there are no proper records on the nationalisation of the land, which may slow down restitution efforts. The report also shows that Serbia is working with World Bank assistance to modernise its cadastral systems. Also the permitting processes that control both the acquisition of land in Serbia and decisions related to use of such land generally are considered a significant barrier to foreign investors. Serbia's new Constitution, adopted in September 2006, permits private ownership of the construction land which will make foreign investment more attractive.

Political Corruption

According to CMI Corruption in Serbia 2007, legal protection of property rights is weak, largely on account of the corrupt, ineffective judicial system.

An example of conflict of interest and irregular behaviour of government officials that shocked the business community is the government's interference in the case of a mineral water manufacturer in which the government illegally took the role of arbiter in the proprietary documents market from the Securities Commission. To support its candidate in the sale, the government, in a late-night session, ordered prosecutors to threaten the Securities Commission with arrest.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2011:
- Registering property requires a company to go through 6 administrative procedures, taking an average of 91 days at a cost of 2.7% of the property value.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the protection of property rights in Serbia, including financial assets, a score of 3.2 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very weak' and 7 'very strong').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 6.5% of the households surveyed reported to have paid a bribe to land services in 2009.