The amendments to the Law on navigation and ports in inland waterways foreseen the new jurisdictions of the Port Governance Agency

Amendments to the Law on Navigation and Ports on Inland Waterways came into force on June 8, 2018. By adopting amendments to the Law, Port Governance Agency has received the new jurisdictions.

In the following period, the Agency will determine the port area for marinas- special waterway ports on the waterway intended for the reception, storage and equipment of recreational, sports and leisure vessels. In addition, the Agency will issue licenses for performing port activities in marinas, in accordance with the spatial and urban planning documents, as well as the documents of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, or the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, which determine the maritime network on international, interstate and state waterways.

One of the competencies of the Agency will be the implementation of the procedure for issuing an approval for performing port activities of sand and gravel suppliers at locations where there are facilities for the deposit and separation of stone aggregates, which are covered by the general act and plan for placement of these facilities, issued by the competent authority units of local self-government, for a period of three years with the possibility of extension for a maximum of three more years.

The Law also provides that the Port Authority shall keep records of the facilities of port infrastructure in the ownership of the Republic of Serbia, on which the Agency has entered the right to use, as well as the cadastral parcels that make port land.

The application of the Law, as well as the definition of the new competencies of the Agency, is one of the steps towards a regulated port area and improved, competitive water transport in Serbia.