Company Registration in Bulgaria

If you are interested in company registration in Bulgaria, you must know that the procedure is completed through the Unified Trade Register. Our law firm can help you register your business in Bulgaria and guide you through each step of the setup procedure.

Quick Facts
Representation in the relationship with the Trade Register (YES/NO)	Yes, clients can rely on our Bulgarian lawyers for representation services.
Main function of the Registrar	Company registration for Bulgarian and foreign investors
Business registration steps through the Commercial Register	– business name reservation, – documents preparation, – filing and verification, – issuance of Registration Certificate
Documents required for registration	– standard application forms, – Articles of Association, – proof of legal address, – information about the shareholders and directors
Possibility to verify business name before registration (YES/NO)	Yes
Company due diligence checks	Yes
Information about companies available with the Register	– business name, – legal form, – registered address
Business registration timeframe (approx.)	3 to 7 business days
Requirements to file annual financial statements with the Bulgarian Trade Registry (YES/NO)	Yes, financial statements must be filed by companies.
Requirement to update alterations with the Registrar (YES/NO)	Yes, the Register must be notified of changes occurring at the company level.
Updated information to be recorded	Legal address, business name, legal form, share capital, shareholding, management changes
Requirement to register company dissolutions with the Register (YES/NO)	Yes, status alterations must also be announced.
Other legal entities that must be registered with the Commercial Register	– sole traders, – partnerships, – branches, – associations, – non-profit organizations
Other functions of the Trade Registry in Bulgaria	Company de-registration and re-registration
Applicable law	Commercial Register and Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities Act (Registry Agency registration since 2008)

An accelerated business registration procedure in Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Trade Register offers certain advantages to investors, among which:

centralized information,
bilingual access to information, both in Bulgarian and in English,
an accelerated registration procedure that can take up to 24 hours.

Specialized staff can offer advice regarding the registration procedure. The Bulgarian Trade Register can also act as a link between the registered company and Bulgarian and foreign third parties.

When registering a company in Bulgaria, all the application forms must be in Bulgarian. The necessary documents are the primary registration application form and the registration card. Individuals who want to register companies must also pay a fee to complete the registration procedure.

Documents required for registering a business in Bulgaria

Clients interested in company registration in Bulgaria need to prepare a series of documents and file them with the Trade Register. These are:

the standard application form, which depends on the legal entity to register;
in the case of corporate entities, Articles of Association must be drafted and submitted to the Registrar;
in the case of partnerships, the creation deed must be created;
proof of a legal address in Bulgaria is also mandatory;
information about the shareholders and directors of companies must also be supplied;
a bank account statement indicating the deposit of the share capital is also required in the case of companies.

Our lawyers are at your service if you need support in preparing and filing registration documents. We also offer representation with the Registrar based on a power of attorney.

Here is also an infographic on the Bulgarian Companies Register:

The main functions of the Trade Registry in Bulgaria

Company registration is not the only role of this Bulgarian administrative body. Through it, other actions can be completed, among which we present the following:

enables searches of existing companies;
keeps various records, on existing business names and insolvent companies, for example;
issues official documents to companies (for Bulgarian businesses that seek to expand in other countries, and need to prove they are legally registered here);
records all modifications that are made in a company;
publishes various notices issued by other authorities and that are of interest to companies;
re-registers companies and other entities upon request;
records business conversions.

Please note that associations must also be registered (in the Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities, kept by the Registry Agency), while representative offices of foreign companies are registered with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Our lawyers can assist with the setup of these entities, as well.

The Bulgarian Trade Register: a complete database

The Bulgarian Trade Register is kept by the Registry Agency under the Ministry of Justice and it can be an important tool for company owners in Bulgaria because it offers access to the centralized registration of each legal entity in Bulgaria. The centralized information that can be accessed online is public and is also available in English for foreign company owners in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Trade Register is a database that offers access to important information about companies operating on the Bulgarian market and details regarding the capital of the company, form of business, the names of the shareholders and managers and the address of the company. Bulgarian companies in insolvency or liquidation are also included in the Register.

The database also includes information about local companies and branches or subsidiaries in Bulgaria. All companies in Bulgaria must be registered at the Trade Register, and they receive a certificate of registration once the procedure is complete. The application form can be submitted electronically, and the company will receive a certificate/ reference issued by the Register.

The Bulgarian Trade Register acts as a centralized bureau for information about companies, and it sends the information regarding the registration to other legal entities in Bulgaria, such as the National Social Security Institute or the National Revenue Agency. Branches and subsidiaries also receive a unified identification code in Bulgaria.

Altering company details in Bulgaria

Companies can make various amendments in order to help them perform better, however, they must be reported to the Registrar. Among the most important are:

changes in the shareholding structure;
replacement of directors;
legal address modifications;
share capital alterations;
legal form conversions.

For this purpose, specific forms must be filled out and submitted alongside the modified Articles of Association.

Below, we also share a video on the Trade Register:

How many companies operate in Bulgaria?

According to the National Statistics Institute, at the level of 2024, the number of registered businesses by number of employees was as follows:

The total number of enterprises was 470,985;
440,916 of them had maximum 9 employees;
24,720 of the businesses had between 10 and 49 employees;
4,575 of them had 50 to 249 employees, while 774 had more than 250 workers.

Our lawyers in Bulgaria can provide assistance during the registration procedure and they can help you open and run your business in Bulgaria. Please contact our attorneys for more information about our legal services.