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Registration of companies in Azerbaijan

MAIN LAWS ON COMPANY REGISTRATION IN AZERBAIJAN:

The Civil Code of Republic of Azerbaijan (December 28, 1999), the Law of Republic of Azerbaijan “On Entrepreneurship” (December 15, 1992).

MAIN BUSINESS LEGAL STRUCTURES IN AZERBAIJAN:

• Limited Liability Company (LLC)
• JSC (Joint-Stock Company) 
• Representative Office or Branch

Our legal experts render the services of registration of all forms of business in Azerbaijan with the participation of both residents and non-residents.

To choose the best form of business presence in Azerbaijan, you can order us to draw up a comparative legal report, in which we analyse pros and cons of a certain form of business presence in the territory of Azerbaijan.

NAME OF AN LLC IN AZERBAIJAN:

In Azerbaijan, a name of a legal entity is checked, because it must be unique.

Since 2012, one can check a name online or in the dedicated information kiosks located in the registration authorities.

Legal entities with foreign participation, when using names in foreign languages, must use transliteration in the national language and in Russian.

Also, legal entities, representative offices/branches have a right to use such words as “Baku” and the abridged versions thereof in their names. The law of Azerbaijan allows to freely use those in the names of the newly created or renamed entities.

MINIMUM AUTHORIZED CAPITAL OF AN LLC:

There are no requirements as to the minimum authorized capital of an LLC in Azerbaijan. However, at the time of setting an amount of the authorized capital, one will have to pay it in full at once.

MAIN SERVICES OF REGISTRATION OF AN LLC IN AZERBAIJAN:

1. Preparation of constituent documents of an LLC;
2. Registration of a company in registration authorities;
3. Ordering and receiving of a seal;
4. Registration of data on the companies in extra-budgetary funds;
5. Opening of accumulation/current accounts in Azerbaijan and abroad.

BACKGROUND DATA REQUIRED FOR REGISTRATION OF AN LLC IN AZERBAIJAN*:

1. Company name;
2. Registered address (can be provided by us);
3. Participant’s data (name, citizenship, passport/company’s constituent documents, tax identification number);
4. Amount of the authorized capital;
5. Kinds of activities;
6. Chosen bank in Azerbaijan and kinds of accounts to be opened therewith;
7. Other documents and data at the request of the experts of ALPS & CHASE.*

* All of the documents must be provided in advance, so we have time to translate them into Russian. All provided documents must be notarized and legalized in the Embassy of Azerbaijan in a participant’s (shareholder’s) country or apostilled according to Hague Convention of 1961 by the relevant authorities after notarization.

For the participants from CIS countries (Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), no apostilization or legalization of the documents is required according to the Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases (dated January 23, 1993) (please, note – depending on the kind of legal actions, there can be some exceptions).

PRESENCE OF THE PARTICIPANTS DURING REGISTRATION OF A COMPANY IN AZERBAIJAN:

In Azerbaijan, we can solve all matters for you under a properly executed Power of Attorney. We will need the Director General to be present only at the time of opening of bank accounts.

TERM OF REGISTRATION OF AN LLC IN AZERBAIJAN:

Term of registration is around 3 business days from the time of submission of the documents to the public authorities of Azerbaijan. Opening of bank accounts can take around 1 week, depending on the bank.

APPOINTMENT OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL IN AZERBAIJAN:

You can appoint either a citizen of Azerbaijan or a foreign citizen to a position of the Director General.

If a foreigner is a founder or a head of a branch/representative office, he/she does not need to obtain a work license.

However, there is a small peculiarity: according to the laws of Republic of Azerbaijan, for the purposes of protection of the domestic labour market, the government establishes an annual limit on engagement of foreign labour force in the territory of Azerbaijan, and a company has to obtain a work permit for a foreigner.

If you have no time to obtain a work permit or you need the permanent presence of the director general for the settlement of administrative matters, our company will provide you with the service of temporary directors in Azerbaijan.

Such directors can perform various tasks, interact with the tax inspectorate, customs or the banks. The main requirement to use this service is a complete legality of the client’s business.

OTHER SERVICES IN THE AREA OF REGISTRATION OF A BUSINESS PRESENCE IN AZERBAIJAN:

Registration of a Branch or a Representative Office in Azerbaijan

Registration of a permanent establishment in Azerbaijan

Registration of a JSC in Azerbaijan