How to open a representative office of a foreign company

The laws of the Russian Federation allow foreign firms to open representative offices and branches in the Russian Federation. A representative office, unlike a branch, is not a legal entity and does not have the right to conduct commercial activities. However, subject to tax registration. It is advisable to open a representative office if you need your own person in the country to interact with partners, market research or resolve contentious issues.

You will need

• - power of attorney in the name of the person who will directly carry out all the formalities;

• - a statement on the opening of a representative office with a translation into Russian or in Russian, if you know it well enough;

• - The charter of your company or an equivalent document according to the laws of your country, notarized into Russian;

• - A document on the state registration of your company with a notarized translation into Russian;

• - the decision of the company to open a representative office in the Russian Federation, certified by the signature of its first person and seal and translated into Russian;

• - Regulation on the representation of the company with translation into Russian;

• - bank statement on the solvency of the company with a translation into Russian;

• - letters of recommendation from Russian business partners;

• - a document confirming the legal address of the representative office (letter of guarantee or rental agreement and a copy of the certificate of ownership of the premises or a copy of your certificate of ownership, if the office belongs to your company.

Instruction manual

1

Start work on opening a representative office by looking for an office for him. The future legal address should be reflected in the decision to open a representative office. The easiest way is if you own commercial property in Russia. Otherwise, you will need a letter of guarantee from the owner or a lease. Any of these documents must be accompanied by a copy of the certificate of ownership of the premises that you rent or intend to rent.

2

Contact in any convenient way with the Registration Chamber of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. In some cases, representative offices of foreign firms in Russia are registered by other organizations. Their list is too extensive, so it would be better to contact the Ministry of Justice for advice on how to be in your situation. In addition, even if you register a representative office through another organization, for example, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, after tax registration, it is still advisable to obtain accreditation in this department, especially if you plan to send citizens of your country to Russia to work in the representative office. Otherwise, it will be more difficult for them to solve visa issues.

3

Prepare a decision on opening a representative office in accordance with the legislation of your country, indicate in it for what purposes you are opening it, for how long (according to Russian laws up to three years with the possibility of extension) and at what address.

4

Write a statement addressed to the Registration Chamber of the Ministry of Justice or another body depending on your situation. Be sure to include the name of your company in it, the date of its foundation, the address in the country of residence, the types of activities, the position and name of the first person or the name and composition of other governing bodies in accordance with your Charter, the purpose of opening a representative office, information with whom and how cooperate in Russia and what plans do you have regarding the development of this cooperation. The more convincing the arguments in the statement, the greater the chance of a positive decision. If you do not speak Russian well enough, prepare a document in your own language.

5

Develop the Regulation on the representation in the Russian Federation in accordance with the Charter of your company and the legislation of the country of its residence. Reflect in this document the goals of creating a representative office, its functions, powers, future address.

6

Take in your bank documents confirming the solvency of the company: a statement of the account balance or the history of the movement of funds in the account for a period of six months.

7

Prepare a power of attorney for the person who will deal with all the formalities in Russia. In it, reflect his name and surname, position, if it is your employee, passport and Russian visa details, if relevant (for citizens of the Russian Federation - internal passport details and address of registration) and what exactly do you trust him: to represent the interests of your company when registering its representative office in the Russian Federation, interact with state and commercial organizations on this issue and sign the necessary documents.

8

Translate into Russian all the necessary documents. Russian official organizations accept only notarized translations. You can get such a translation at the nearest Russian consulate or use the services of any Russian translation agency.

9

Hand over the entire package of documents to your representative who will handle formalities in Russia. In the case of a positive decision, he put the representative on tax records. To do this, he needs to write a statement of the established form and contact the tax office serving the legal address of the representative office with all the documents that he will receive at the registration authority. And then, if necessary, with the same sets of documents and all the papers that you receive in the tax office - to the Registration Chamber of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for accreditation.

note

The laws of the Russian Federation allow the opening of representative offices of foreign companies to effectively promote the development of contractual relations with Russian partners or the export of goods (primarily modern equipment) to Russia and their warranty service. Consider this when formulating the goals of opening a representative office.

open a company representative