The procedure for establishing a company in the Republic of Macedonia is fairly simple, by visiting only one counter, through the one-stop-shop system for registering a company at the Central Registry of the Republic of Macedonia in Skopje, but also through 28 electronically integrated branch offices located throughout Macedonia. Foreign companies have been also able to register companies electronically starting from 2012. This reform enables registration of companies directly from the investor’s country, thus eliminating the need for being physically present in Skopje and in Macedonia in the process of registration of the company.
The time needed for registration of a company is four hours. In practice, it can take up to 1-2 business days the most. This significantly decreases the administrative barriers and costs for starting a business.
The fee at the Central Registry for registering a Limited liability company is around 40 euro. Apart from this fee, other minimal additional costs are possible, such as the costs for sworn translation and certification of the necessary documents by a notary public, which costs around 3 to 5 euro per page.
The necessary documentation for registering a company at the Central Registry is the following:
Documentation
• Application for registration;
• A contract for the company, or a statement establishing the company, including all addenda including the power of attorney for the authorized person, certified by a notary public;
• Copy of passport or ID if a physical person is the founder, of another document for determining the identity which is valid in the person’s country, proof for registration if a legal entity is the founder;
• Evidence from a bank authorized for doing payment operations that each founding member has paid at least a third of the monetary deposit;
• Evidence that at least half of the basic capital has been paid;
• If non-monetary deposits are deposited – the contracts which determine and execute them;
• The decision for appointing of a manager;
• Statement by each manager of the company that they accept the appointment – certified by a notary public;
• The decision for appointing members of the supervisory board;
• Evidence for ownership in which an entry in a public registry book for registering immovable property has been made, and if movable property is introduced, for which by law a requirement for registering has been stipulated, evidence for ownership over the movable property;
• Permit or another act of a state body or another authorized body if that liability has been stipulated with a law for registering the company in the company registry;
• Statement of the legal representative of the legal person, or a statement of the natural person, certified by notary, i.e. submitted evidence that there are no legal obstacles for them to be the founder of the company as stated in Article 29 of the Company Law;
• Statement in which the activities undertaken in order to properly establish a company are listed and in which the founders claim that they founded the company in accordance with the law and that the data contained in the addenda (the documents and the evidence) which they are attaching to the application for registration of the establishing of the company into the company registry are truthful and in accordance with the law. The statement can be given in writing or in an electronic form through the one-stop shop system pursuant to the Law on electronic data and electronic signature, the Law on the Central Registry of the Republic of Macedonia and the regulations for the one-stop shop system. It shall be certified by a notary public, whereas it shall not be certified when it is submitted electronically through the one-stop shop system. (Article 32 from the Company Law);
• The manager, or the persons who according to the contract for the company, are authorized to represent it, deposit their signatures – certified by a notary public. The foreign nationals can deposit a signature certified by the competent authority in the country of their nationality. The signature shall not be certified by a notary public if it is submitted electronically pursuant to the Law on electronic data and electronic signature;
• The addenda may be submitted electronically pursuant to the Law on electronic data and electronic signature and the Law on the one-stop shop system and on the company registry and the registry of other legal entities.
The founding capital of the company consists of the sum of the deposits of the co-founders. The deposit of the co-founder can be monetary and non-monetary. The non-monetary deposits are fully deposited before the submission of the application for registration of the establishing of the company.
The minimal capital necessary for a limited liability company, registered as direct foreign investment, during one year from the establishing is 5,000 euro monetary contribution on temporary accounts in some of the national banks.
For activities in certain fields such as pharmacy, banking, insurance and educational activities, the process for registration of a company is followed by licensing by the relevant authorities. The central registry employees are trained to guide the newly registered companies to the appropriate bodies or institutions for their licensing.
Work visas/work permit
Foreign citizens can easily be employed in the Republic of Macedonia, after getting an appropriate visa or permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, i.e. the diplomatic-consular representative offices abroad.
Nationals of EU member-states, as well as nationals of the state-parties to the Schengen agreement may enter the Republic of Macedonia presenting a valid identity card issued by the competent authorities of the EU member-states or of the state-parties to the Schengen agreement.
Issuance of visas to foreign citizens
– Visas shall be issued only at the embassies or consulates of the Republic of Macedonia abroad;
– The validity of the passport or other travel document of the applicant has to be minimum 3 (three) months;
– The application may be submitted to the embassy/consulate of the Republic of Macedonia by post or by fax, in which case the applicant must collect the visa in person;
Using the list of diplomatic and consular missions of the Republic of Macedonia abroad, which can be found at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the visa applicants can choose the most convenient embassy/consulate to submit the visa application.
Foreign nationals in the Republic of Macedonia can obtain two types of permits:
• Work permit and
• Residence permit
Access to information on potential partners and suppliers
With the development of the principles of transparency and availability, the Government enables economic entities to have access to substantial and accurate data on potential business partners. The Central Registry hosts an easily accessible database of companies, which is connected with the European Business Register.
Unambiguous identification of companies is provided by granting a unique registration number of registered entities, a code and title of the registered main activity according to the National classification of activities, a code of the organizational form of the registered entry, a provision of a unique tax number, and entry of a bank account chosen by the registered entity.
