Registration of a Representative Office

In order to open a representative office in Ukraine, one must understand the further purpose of such an office’s activities in Ukraine. Indeed, depending on the objective pursued by the foreign company (non-resident) in establishing a representative office in Ukraine, it may, based on its status, be either a “permanent representative office” or a “representative office”.

For a non-resident (foreign company) to fully or partially carry out business activities in Ukraine through its representative office, it needs to acquire the status of a “permanent representative office”, which can fully or partially conduct business activities similar to those the non-resident performs outside Ukraine (for example, providing medical services, logistics services, services in the construction field, etc.).

At the same time, if a non-resident’s representative office aims only to perform representational functions in the form of auxiliary or preparatory activities for the non-resident in Ukraine (such as participating in trade fairs, seminars, conferences, organizing them for the non-resident, advertising the non-resident’s goods/products, delivering the non-resident’s goods, storing goods for the non-resident, collecting information, conducting market research (marketing) exclusively for the non-resident), then it is sufficient to have the status of a simple “representative office” (i.e., a representative office that does not engage in commercial activities in Ukraine).

It is important to understand that the procedure for registering a representative office of a foreign economic entity differs from the registration of a regular company and has its own particularities. The registration of a foreign company’s representative office is carried out by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, which issues the corresponding certificate of registration. This process takes at least 20 working days from the day the registration documents are submitted and costs the amount equivalent to the subsistence minimum for able-bodied individuals. Moreover, if this representative office conducts or intends to conduct economic (commercial) activities (trading in goods, works, or services), it must register with the tax authority as a corporate profit taxpayer at the location of that representative office. For more detailed consultation on opening (registering) a permanent representative office of a foreign company (non-resident) in Ukraine, please contact the specialists of the “First Legal” Law Firm! We will gladly help you turn your plans into reality!