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Starting business in Estonia

 

To start business activities in Estonia one needs a local company to work with, there are two ways for starting your business in Estonia.

 

  • Buying a ready-made company – specially designed for new entrepreneurs to start their activities immediately. It usually takes one day to become the owner and you don’t have to worry about the share capital payment. Usually the prices for ready-made companies vary from 550 – 2 500 euros depending on their form, VAT ID availability, licenses, registration date etc.

  • Setting up a new company – on an average it takes ca 7 days to set up a new company in Estonia, for the owners of Estonian ID card or E-residents, setting up a new company takes only couple of hours.

 

Setting up a company in Estonia

 

The most common forms of business entities in Estonia are private limited companies, public limited companies and branches of foreign entities.

Establishing a company

 

All enterprises are required to be entered in the Commercial Register. The Commercial Register is a public register, which means that everyone is entitled to examine the register and the business files and to obtain copies of registry cards and documents in the business files.

 

To enter a company in the Commercial Register, the founders must submit the memorandum of association, which includes the following information:

  • The business name and official address

  • The names and residences or seats of the founders

  • The proposed amount of share capital

  • The number and nominal value of shares and, upon issue of more than one class of shares, the rights attached to the shares and the division of shares among the founders

  • The amount to be paid for shares, the procedure, time and place of payment

  • In case a share is paid for by non-monetary contribution, the item of the non-monetary contribution and its valuation method

  • Information on the members of the Management Board, the Supervisory Board and the auditor

  • Information on procurators (authorized persons), if appointed

  • The projected costs of foundation and the procedure for payment

 

With the conclusion of the memorandum of association, the founders shall also approve the articles of association of the limited liability company as an annex to the memorandum of association. The memorandum of association and the articles of association approved thereby shall be notarized and signed by all founders.

 

Registration Process

 

As a rule, the registration of an entity into the Commercial Register of Estonia takes five working days

 

The owners of an ID card in Estonia, Finland, Belgium, Portugal and the mobile ID owners in Lithuania can use the internet for:

  • Registering a new legal entity

  • Changing the registry information of an already existing legal entity

  • Filing annual reports

 

All documents shall be provided via the e-portal of the Commercial Register and there is no need to execute any notarization proceedings.

 

A private limited company can be created within two hours via the internet, without notarization, in an accelerated procedure.

 

Additional information regarding operating in the Commercial Register via ID card or mobile ID is available at https://ariregister.rik.ee

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