The Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia adopted the new Law on Financial Leasing, which was published in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia” No. 148/2026 of July 6, 2026.
The new Law on Financial Leasing completely replaces the previous Law on Leasing (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” No. 4/2002, 49/2003, 13/2006, 88/2008, 35/11, 51/11, 148/13, 145/15, 23/16 and 37/16 and “Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia” No. 173/22).
According to Article 51 of the new law, this law enters into force on the day of its publication in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia”, and according to Article 50 of the same law, on the day of entry into force of this law, the Law on Leasing ceases to be valid.
With the adoption of the new Law on Financial Leasing, substantial changes have been made in the leasing sector in the Republic of North Macedonia aimed at achieving greater transparency, financial stability of leasing providers, strengthening user protection and introducing stricter standards for leasing providers in order to harmonize the current legal regulation with European standards.
One of the key changes introduced by the new Law on Financial Leasing is the amendment of the provision on the minimum amount of share capital for leasing providers established as limited liability companies or joint-stock companies. According to Article 4 of the new law, “a financial leasing provider shall be established with a share capital of at least 30,000,000 denars, which must be in cash and paid in full and may not originate from loans and/or credits.” Previously, the Law on Leasing stipulated that a financial leasing provider be established with a minimum share capital of 6,000,000 denars. This amendment stipulates stricter criteria for leasing providers under which they can be established and carry out financial and operational leasing activities.
Article 4, paragraph 5 of the new law stipulates that the financial leasing provider may not perform any activities other than financial and operational leasing and activities and services related to leasing, including trade in returned and confiscated leased items..
The new Law on Financial Leasing also provides for changes to the procedure for granting a license to establish and operate a leasing provider, whereby Article 5 establishes for the first time an obligation for leasing provider who intend to establish themselves, i.e. to submit an application to the Ministry of Finance for a license to establish and operate, to submit proof of payment of a fee of 600,000.00 denars.
At the same time, in Article 5, paragraph 6, a new provision is introduced, which stipulates that the founder of a financial leasing provider referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article cannot be a person who does not possess a reputation. Reputation means honesty, competence, diligence and personal integrity, which provide assurance that the person will not influence in a way that threatens the stability and security of the financial leasing provider and damages its reputation and trust.
The amendments introduced by the new Law on Financial Leasing also provide for special conditions for the members of the management body, whereby Article 6, paragraph 1 clearly stipulating that a member of the management body of a financial leasing provider may be a person who is not a member of the management body of any other company in the Republic of North Macedonia.
The new Law on Financial Leasing also provides for changes in relation to the elements that must be included in the financial leasing agreement, which are prescribed in Article 16 of this law. In addition, the new law provides that the leasing agreement can be concluded in written or electronic form, including all annexes, amendments and supplements to the agreement.
The new Law on Financial Leasing provides for the first time a clear definition of the term operating lease, and Article 21 also provides for the right of early repayment of the financial lease beneficiary, who now has the right at any time to pay, in full or in part, the unpaid part of the obligations in accordance with the amortization plan, without additional costs. In that case, the beneficiary has the right to a reduction in the total costs determined in the amortization plan for the remaining part of the duration of the financial leasing agreement.
At the same time, leasing beneficiaries are additionally protected by the provision of Article 24, paragraph 1 of the new law, which stipulates that the financial leasing provider cannot use the subject of financial leasing as collateral without prior written consent from the beneficiary given before a notary, in a separate document – a statement, separate from the financial leasing agreement and the general terms and conditions, with a clear statement of the legal consequences of such consent.
The new Law on Financial Leasing provides for stricter penalties for financial leasing providers for failure to comply with the provisions of the law, which can amount to up to 20,000 euros, and for a violation of Article 38 of this law even up to 50,000 euros. At the same time, the new Law on Financial Leasing provides that for financial leasing providers who do not comply with the provisions of this law within the deadlines referred to in Article 46, paragraph 1, the Ministry of Finance shall, within 30 days from the date of expiry of the deadlines referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, issue a decision revoking their establishment and operation license. Hence, in order to avoid such consequences, financial leasing providers have an obligation, within the deadlines set out in Article 46 of this law, to adapt their operations to the provisions of the new law.