Registration of a foreign company's representative office in Ukraine
We prepare the documents for a foreign company's representative office (predstavnytstvo), file them with the state registrar and prepare the tax registration application. Registration costs from UAH 15,000. After that our accountant keeps the office's books from the first month, as part of our accounting services in Ukraine. We reply within one business day.
A document list for your country
Registry entry and tax registration
An accountant from the first month
Tell us where your company is from
Write the country of registration, what the office will do and who will run it. A manager replies within one business day with a document list and a price.
What representative office registration includes
Choosing the right structure
We look at what the office will do in Ukraine. If it will sell or sign contracts, we explain the tax consequences or suggest a subsidiary (TOV) instead.
Documents for your country
We draw up the list and prepare the decision to open the office, its regulations and the application, and tell you which papers need an apostille and translation.
Filing and the registry extract
We file the documents with the state registrar and follow the review. If the registrar has comments, we fix them and file again.
Tax authority and bank
We prepare the tax registration application, prepare the bank account pack and explain which reports are due in the first quarter.
What we need from you and how long it takes
- the foreign company's decision to open the office and appoint its head;
- a recent extract from the commercial register of the company's home country;
- the ownership chart up to the ultimate beneficial owners, with copies of their passports;
- the head's passport and Ukrainian tax number (RNOKPP), which we can obtain for a foreigner;
- a power of attorney for the person who files: by law this can only be a notary, an attorney or another qualified professional acting on their own account, not as an employee.
Documents issued abroad need an apostille or consular legalization and a certified Ukrainian translation. Documents from Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia and a few other countries do not need an apostille under legal assistance treaties. The state registrar reviews the documents within 5 business days, and the state fee is one subsistence minimum, UAH 3,330 in 2026. Preparing the papers abroad usually takes longest, so we give you a timeline once we know your country.
Representative office registration costs
Representative office registration
Accounting for your office
Consultation
- notary, apostille and translations;
- temporary residence permit for a foreign head of office.
All prices are on the accounting prices in Ukraine page. What accounting for the office involves after registration, and how VAT works without a fiscal representative, is explained on accounting for representative offices in Ukraine.
Representative office or subsidiary
| Representative office | Subsidiary (TOV) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | not a legal entity, acts for the foreign company | a Ukrainian company owned by the foreign parent |
| Sales in Ukraine | no, otherwise it is a permanent establishment that pays corporate income tax | yes, any lawful business |
| Taxes | payroll taxes; corporate income tax only for a permanent establishment | corporate income tax, VAT once registered, payroll taxes |
| Liability | the foreign company is liable | the subsidiary itself is liable |
If you will sell in Ukraine and sign contracts with local customers, a subsidiary is the usual choice, see LLC registration in Ukraine. A representative office suits marketing, quality control, finding partners and supporting the parent's customers. All structures and prices are compared on company registration in Ukraine. Our firm was founded by Ukrainian tax attorney Philipp Orlov, so we look at the tax side of your choice before anything is filed.
After the office is registered
Accounting from the first month
Taxes if sales begin
A foreign head of office
How we register a representative office
Our work costs from UAH 15,000. The state fee (UAH 3,330 in 2026), notary, apostille and translations are paid separately. We confirm the full amount once we know where the parent company is registered and how many documents need translating.
A state registrar, not the Ministry of Economy. Since 3 September 2024 representative offices of foreign companies are entered in the Unified State Register as separate subdivisions, and separate registration with the Ministry of Economy is no longer needed. The registrar reviews the documents within 5 business days.
Usually yes: documents issued abroad need an apostille or consular legalization and a certified Ukrainian translation. Documents from Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia and a few other countries are exempt under legal assistance treaties.
It can trade, but then it is a permanent establishment for tax purposes: it registers as a corporate income tax payer, pays 18% on profit earned in Ukraine and can register for VAT. Ukraine has no EU-style fiscal representative, and we explain the options on accounting for representative offices in Ukraine.
A representative office is not a legal entity: it acts for the foreign company, which is liable for its obligations. A subsidiary (TOV) is a separate Ukrainian company that signs contracts in its own name, is liable with its own assets and pays corporate income tax.
No. Staff of branches and representative offices of foreign companies, including a foreign head of office, are exempt from the permit to employ a foreign national under Ukraine's Law on Employment of the Population. They do need a temporary residence permit, issued on the office's application. A foreign director of a subsidiary (TOV), by contrast, usually needs a work permit, and working without one carries a fine of UAH 172,940 per person in 2026.
The tax authority registers the office automatically from the state register, and within 10 days the foreign company files its own application as a non-resident. Then the office opens a bank account, hires staff and reports on them every month. We handle this as part of accounting for representative offices, from UAH 15,000 a month.
Let's talk about your office in Ukraine
Tell us where your company is from and what the office will do. We will send a document list and a price.