The State Registry of Legal Entities is the institution in charge of registering the companies in the country, having local owners or investors from overseas. The incorporation process has been simplified and can be done via an online document filing for the chosen type of company. Investors who wish to open a company in Azerbaijan are required to prepare the registration document and make the required online submissions in order to open a corporation, partnership or sole trader.
Our company formation agents in Azerbaijan can assist local and foreign entrepreneurs who are interested in starting a business. Professional company formation assistance is often recommended especially in the case of foreign entrepreneurs who wish to make sure that the documents they submit for inspection will be approved.
In this article, our agents describe the main features of the State Registry of Legal Entities and briefly describe the most commonly used business forms and the general incorporation process for these. For more detailed information, as well as complete assistance during the incorporation process, please do not hesitate to reach out to our agents.
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What is the function of the Trade Register in Azerbaijan?
The State Registry of Legal Entities functions in the form of an electronic system that has been introduced in Azerbaijan in order to facilitate company formation. This electronic means of registering limited liability companies and other business forms has been in place since 2012 when the former registration procedures were abolished.
The registration portal functions under the Ministry of Taxes of the Republic of Azerbaijan and those who choose to incorporate a company in the country have the option to submit the documents and use an electronic signature to complete the process. Legal entities in the country are not exempt from submitting hard copies of the needed documents when making the relevant applications to state authorities. This is a welcomed procedure that simplifies the general corporate compliance process. Due to the recent reforms that aim to increase the digitization in the business sector, the number of electronically registered entities increased in 2019, amounting to 72% of the total registrations during the first half of 2019. Company formation in Azerbaijan is simplified to only one general submission (from the previous three required steps before the digitization was implemented).
What are the steps for company registration in Azerbaijan?
Besides the application form for the State Registrar in Azerbaijan, an entrepreneur must provide the Articles of Association, the Memorandum, details about the business address, the name of the stockholders and managers of the future company. The new registration system in Azerbaijan is a one-stop-shop type and has been implemented for a suitable and simple way of incorporating companies in the country. Please consider that the documents must contain the following details before registering your company in Azerbaijan:
• the company’s activities;
• the company’s business address;
• the status of the company;
• proof of fee payment for the registration.
Investors who use the online portal in order to open a company in Azerbaijan will be asked to fill in the “Application for state registration of a commercial institution”. As previously mentioned, certain details are provided when making this submission. We list some of the boxes that need to be filled in when submitting the information:
- the applicant’s purpose section: this includes the reason for the application which can be for a newly incorporated business or for a company that wishes to change its corporate details.
- commercial structure general information section: in accordance with the information approved by the founders of the company – the section also includes the full name of the company.
- reorganization form section: for companies that have changed their structure via a merger, a separation, transformation or otherwise.
- charter capital and financial year section: includes information on the authorized capital amount for the said company.
- authorized person section: information about the appointed agent or authorized person, his name/surname, identity card details, and other information, as needed.
- other sections: company address or addresses, information on the activities of the organization, details on the parent company in case of branches that are opened in Azerbaijan, etc.
Please note that this is only a brief summary of the sections that need to be filled in when submitting an application in order to open a company in Azerbaijan. In practice (and depending on the type of business entity and whether or not it is a branch of a foreign company) the required documents and information may be different.
No matter the type of company you want to register in Azerbaijan, we recommend you to ask for comprehensive support from our consultants in company incorporation in Azerbaijan.
Details about the State Registrar in Azerbaijan
Besides dealing with company registration processes, the State Registrar in Azerbaijan allows persons to ask for information about other entities registered in the country. Details about the date of incorporation or about the board of managers of a company can be received on request. The State Registrar in Azerbaijan has simplified the methods of registering a business in the country by implementing a program named one-stop shop through which a company can be easily incorporated. The procedure has been shorten in this matter and the businesses in Azerbaijan can be registered in a short period of time.
Azerbaijan statistics
As highlighted in this article, company formation in Azerbaijan is a simplified procedure that can be easily handled via an online submission. The country has long relied on income from the gas and oil sectors, however, the macro-economic indicators for 2020 show that other business sectors are also important contributors to the country’s GDP. For example, the non-oil gas GDP in January 2020 was approximately 3,905 million AZN. According to the same source, the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the total value of investment directed to fixed capital was 996,7 million AZN in January 2020. The retail trade turnover for the same period was 3,075 million AZN.
Any entrepreneur who wants to set up a company with the State Registrar in Azerbaijan is invited to get in touch with our team of company formation consultants in Azerbaijan for additional details and comprehensive support.