The Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) of the Council of Europe organised a four-day workshop in Vrsac, Serbia, on 24-27 February 2025, within the project “Countering Economic Crime in Serbia”. The workshop was focused on developing an Operational Plan for mitigating risks related to money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing (ML/TF/PF). The Operational Plan is needed for the purpose of addressing the risks identified by the latest National ML/TF/PF Risk Assessment (NRA) through development of concrete measures and activities of the relevant institutions, within the system for prevention and suppression of money laundering in Serbia. The Serbian Government reached a decision not to develop a new MLTFP Strategy, as the previous one expired in 2024, but rather to immediately develop an Operation Plan based on the results of the NRA.
The event gathered experts from various sectors (ministries, prosecution, law enforcement, judiciary, supervisors of financial and non-financial sector) along with the Council of Europe experts, aiming to develop concrete risk mitigation measures based on identified vulnerabilities of each sector as well as on assessment of existing and emerging threats, and deficiencies in overall response to preventing and combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. The sessions covered key risk areas across all sectors, including financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and professions, non-profit organizations and virtual assets service providers. Based on recommendations previously developed within the project, participants formulated clear objectives and timetable of concrete risk-mitigating actions. In the course of the workshop, the final draft of the Operational Plan 2025-2027 was completed and it shall be submitted to the Government for adoption in the upcoming period.
This initiative reflects ongoing efforts to strengthen Serbia’s framework to prevent and combat ML/TF/PF, as well as to further align it with international standards and good practices.
The activity has taken place within the Project “Countering Economic Crime in Serbia”, funded by the Swedish International Development Agency, and implemented by the Council of Europe.
