What documents are needed to register a representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine?

In June 2020, we were contacted by the Client, a foreign construction company, which intended to set up its representative office in Ukraine. The Client was interested in what is needed to start a representative office of the construction company, and what is the licensing procedure for its future activities.

Using the example of this Client, we will tell you what documents will be needed to set up a representative office, as well as will elaborate on the licensing procedure.

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Basic list of documents needed to start a representative office in Ukraine

To set up a representative office, you need a package of documents, which is standard for all companies, regardless of their activities. In particular, the foreign company must provide the following information:

• The company’s registration certificate;
• A bank account opening certificate;
• A power of attorney for the director of the representative office (yes, the director of the representative office should be determined in advance, not recruited later, after the RO establishment);
• An application for registration;
• A power of attorney for the persons who will deal with registration of the representative office in Ukraine.

We have repeatedly elaborated in our previous publications on the procedure for setting a representative office and its registration. You can learn more here.

All of the above documents should be certified depending on the agreements concluded between Ukraine and the country of registration of the company that is going to establish a representative office in Ukraine. For example, an apostille is sufficient for all countries that are members of the Hague Convention. You can learn more about the procedure for certifying documents here.

How to obtain a license for a representative office of a foreign company?

Representative offices of foreign companies in Ukraine do not have the status of a legal entity, and  they can not get the vast majority of licenses, because according to many licensing regulations, the licensees shall be legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

However, in order to attract foreign investments, an exception was made for construction activities. Letter of the State Committee on Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship No. 3-451-1468 / 4349 of 08.08.2002 gave the green light to foreign companies that are going to engage in construction activities in Ukraine. For this purpose, according to the abovementioned Letter, you need to register a representative office in Ukraine, and get a Construction License.

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The license shall be obtained for the already registered representative office. However, if both registration and obtaining a license is carried out by one specialist, then all documents can be prepared in advance, which will save your time.

You can find clear and complete information about the licensing procedure here.

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Turnkey registration of a representative office of the construction company in Ukraine

Ukrainian legislation is rapidly changing, and the regulatory framework for construction has also changed. On March 18, 2020 licensing regulations on construction activities have lost force. And shortly before that (March 13, 2020) the government adopted a resolution on liquidation of the State Architecture and Construction Inspection and creation of a new state authority - the State Service for Urban Planning. As a result, at the time of writing of this publication (July 2020), the issuance of Construction Licenses is suspended.

However, it is important to understand that the registration procedure of a representative office is not a single-week process. It will take some time to gather and apostilize the necessary documents, send them to Ukraine, register with the Ministry of Economic Development and register with the tax authorities and state statistics.

After that, it will be possible to prepare documents in advance for obtaining a Construction License. Meanwhile, our experts are constantly monitoring the situation with the licensing and will be able to submit documents first, as soon as the authority starts working. This is actually the option we offered our Client.

If you want to register a representative office in Ukraine and / or get a Construction License, please contact our lawyers.

If you want to learn about the registration procedure of a representative office in Ukraine, please follow the following link.