Price Comparison Platform: 39 Chains, Barcode 860

The price comparison platform currently lists more than 11,000 items from 39 retail chains, said Mihailo Jovanovic, director of the Office for Information Technology and Electronic Government. On October 20 he walked through how a shopper uses the tool in practice on the RTS Morning News. The national platform was presented at the Serbian Government on October 16.

What can a shopper check on the platform?

According to Jovanovic, a shopper can see whether an item is on sale and whether its price has gone up. Prices can also be followed day by day and compared with the price on the first day of the month. Price history on the platform starts on September 1, 2026, so a comparison with the first day of the month covers the period since that date.

Jovanovic described the same on the platform’s presentation at the Government: category, product name, barcode and price status, regular or discounted, are visible within a few clicks. He added that citizens “can follow daily changes, whether something got more expensive or cheaper, and compare that with prices from the first day of the month.”

On the Morning News he said this as well:

“This platform is important, I believe, for citizens, because citizens can get direct information on where the best deal is, they can inform themselves much better, and it will surely also make our market more transparent and make retailers more competitive.”

The data is available on the website of the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade (must.gov.rs) and on the National Open Data Portal (opendata.gov.rs).

How are domestic products compared by barcode 860?

Jovanovic singled out products whose barcode begins with the digits 860, the prefix of Serbian barcodes. They can be compared across chains, so a shopper can put together the cheapest basket of domestic items.

The figures in the sources differ in scope. On October 20, Jovanovic spoke of more than 11,000 items in 39 chains. Caretaker Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade Jagoda Lazarevic said on October 16 that there were more than 11,750 products with a Serbian barcode. At the same presentation, Jovanovic said the portal held 1,226,760 different products at that moment, and the statements that were reported do not explain how that figure relates to the other two.

How many chains are covered and what comes next?

The price reporting obligation covers 41 retail chains. Prices for 39 of them are already on the portal, and Lazarevic announced the remaining two for the coming days. Together the chains have more than 4,000 points of sale.

The number of tracked product categories has risen from 23 to 25, with alcohol and pet food added. Lazarevic said this is a more advanced version of the platform launched last December, and that three laws have been adopted in the meantime, among them the new Consumer Protection Law and the Law on Trading Practices. On the price list obligation, she said:

“Retailers are now obliged to submit their price lists on a daily basis, and from the second half of November we also expect the first inspection controls.”

The minister also announced that the “National Product Catalog” is planned to be completed within the next three to four months, which would allow imported items to be compared, along with an interactive map and tools based on artificial intelligence. Jovanovic added that Serbia ranks 8th in Europe for the quality of open data portal metadata, and second among national portals, right behind Italy.

What did Jovanovic say about e-sick leave?

In the same appearance, the director of the Office gave new figures on e-sick leave, which has been running for employers since January 1, 2026. More than 1,120,000 electronic sick leaves have been recorded since the start of the year, and the system is used by more than 60,000 employers.

Communication with the Republic Health Insurance Fund has moved to electronic form: about 200,000 documents that employers previously submitted on paper are now sent electronically. From January 1, 2027, entrepreneurs who employ other people are also due to join the system.