Three and a half support walls on Corridor 10, swallowed by the earth. Two weeks’ worth of savings from slashed pensions. The last presidential elections. Each of these things cost around €10.8 million. A lot or a little? What would you do with that money?
That’s how much all Serbian companies combined invested last year in corporate social responsibility (CSR). While philanthropy isn’t new here, international companies post-2000 brought fresh business practices, including CSR. The gist? A company operates in a community, extracts value (profit, knowledge, resources, talent), and “gives back”—usually by funding a humanitarian project, sending a kid to a competition, or covering someone’s medical bills. A single issue gets solved, PR packages it neatly, the public nods, and everyone wins.
But the idea of “owing” society isn’t new. 200 years ago, during the Industrial Revolution, pioneers like John H. Patterson (founder of NCR) realized worker welfare boosted productivity. They introduced safety standards, healthcare, paid leave, and profit-sharing. And they didn’t stop at factory gates—they built legacies. Where would the University of Belgrade’s rector sit today if Miša Anastasijević, the Danube shipping magnate, hadn’t donated the very building that now houses the Rectorate?
Beyond Charity: The New CSR
Today in Serbia—despite VAT on every donation—some companies are flipping the script. Their investments are strategic, long-term, and transformative.
Take young people: if you’re under 30 here, you’ve likely graduated, live with parents, plan to emigrate, and can’t find work. Enter Coca-Cola’s “Support for Youth” program. Alongside initiatives for students, interns, and future managers, it helps thousands annually bridge the education-business gap. Though Coca-Cola contributes just 1% of Serbia’s GDP, it bets on youth shaping their professional identities—and thus, the country’s future.
Or education: Five years ago, kids learned dial-up internet in IT class. Ask a sixth-grader today? Scratch, Python, and robotics—thanks to Microsoft, the Petlja Foundation, and Digital Serbia. Since last year, IT is mandatory in 5th grade, with a revamped 6th-grade curriculum. Microsoft trained 1,200 IT teachers nationwide in algorithmic literacy, fueling Serbia’s booming tech export sector for the next decade.
And sustainability: Where would 3.5 million cans from 120+ festivals end up? Belgrade’s Ball factory (through its Recan Foundation) recycled them, educating 2 million people on recycling’s importance.
The Point? Strategy Over Guilt
These companies—and a handful of others—get it: PR-driven charity is weak. €10.8 million won’t patch our infrastructure, healthcare, or education, let alone fix them (that’s the state’s job). The goal isn’t “paying a debt” anymore—it’s investing in a better Serbia.
So they spend those millions in ways that multiply returns: a generation that won’t let the country collapse. Figuratively or literally.