Company Incorporation

A company may start operations in Azerbaijan from the moment of state registration. Currently, registration authorities for commercial legal entities are carried out by the Ministry of Taxes of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Without a formal registration with the Ministry of Taxes a company may not open a bank account, clear goods through customs, etc. Effective 1 January 2008 the new system of corporate registration is in place, which significantly simplified the registration process for legal entities. The registration of legal entities is now handled through a single state authority ("one-stop-shop") - the Ministry of Taxes. Upon submission of all required documents, within 3 business days the Ministry of Taxes issues an extract from the state register and a unique tax identification number. 

In general, foreign businesses tend to open representative offices/branches or register (incorporate) a local company. One may start his/her own business in Azerbaijan with 100% foreign investment or form a joint venture with a local partner.

There are no specific requirements for the size of share or legal limitations for the foreign element in a company and investment. With the exception of certain licensed activities, there are no additional general approvals or permissions apart from state registration for the start up.

Certain but limited number of documents is required for submission to the Ministry of Taxes for registration purposes (for foreign participants / shareholders, these documents include, inter alia, notarized / apostilled extracts from the companies' register, documents of statute and corporate governance). Azerbaijani law generally recognizes the following types of commercial legal entities (commercial legal entities are defined as those operating for profit):