Entering the international market is an essential stage in business development. One of the ways for a foreign company or organization to have a legal presence in Ukraine is by opening a representative office. This procedure is regulated by several legislative acts, including the Civil Code of Ukraine (CCU), the Commercial Code of Ukraine (CCU), and the Law of Ukraine "On State Registration of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Formations."

According to paragraph 2 of Article 95 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, a representative office is a separate subdivision of a legal entity located outside its registered address and authorized to represent and protect the legal entity's interests. Representative offices are not independent legal entities; they operate based on an approved regulation and can only conduct activities on behalf of the parent company/organization.

Starting from September 3, 2024, following the enactment of Law No. 3257-IX, the procedure for registering foreign company representative offices has undergone significant changes:

• Transfer of registration functions from the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine to state registrars, increasing the number of registration offices and accelerating the process.
• Reduced registration time – now, the state registrar reviews submitted documents within 5 business days, compared to several months previously.
• Reduced bureaucratic burden – the number of required documents has been significantly decreased, and the need to obtain additional permits from the Ministry of Economy has been eliminated.
• Lower registration costs – the administrative fee is set at one living wage for able-bodied individuals, making the procedure more affordable for businesses, and 0.28 of the living wage for registering a separate subdivision of a foreign non-governmental or charitable organization.

• Not a legal entity – it operates solely within the authority granted by the parent company/organization.
• Can open bank accounts and conduct transactions on behalf of the foreign company/organization.
• Operates under an approved regulation established by the parent company/organization.
• Has an appointed director who acts under a power of attorney from the foreign company/organization.

• The name of the representative office must include its type, its unique name (if available), and the name of the parent legal entity.
• Use of state symbols of Ukraine, names of government bodies, and totalitarian regime symbols in the name is prohibited.
• Information about the representative office is entered into the Unified State Register (USR) and used for the identification of the legal entity.

Accountor Kyiv provides a full range of services for registering foreign representative offices in Ukraine, including:

• Legal support at all registration stages.
• Preparation and submission of documents.
• Obtaining an extract from the Unified State Register.

Contact us, and we will help you start your business in Ukraine quickly and securely!