There are different requirements for foreigners registering a company, depending on their country of origin. A different type of declaration should be submitted upon registration with the Commerce Register depending on the company type.
To apply for registration you need to fill in an A form and register with the Commerce Register. Also, you have to fill in the D1 form to save a name for your company. The presence of the founder of the company is required in some cases. In any case, the identification document of the founder should be presented upon registration.
Foreigners can register a company only if they have a permanent Bulgarian residence permit in accordance with the Aliens Act.
Sole proprietor: Other than the A1 form you need to present:
The owner of the sole proprietor company should be present.
When choosing the name of your sole proprietor entity bear in mind that Bulgarian law requires that one of the names of the owner should be in the company name as well.
You also need to sign a declaration that you are not in the process of filing for bankruptcy, you are not insolvent, you have never been convicted for bankruptcy and that you don’t have another sole proprietor entity registered to your name.
Commerce Register applications and name reservations cost about 60 BGN (approx. €30).
General partnership: To register a general partnership company you need to present the following documents:
A D1 form is filed for reservation of a company name.
Fees for registration with the Commerce Register are about 180 BGN (approx. €90).
Limited partnership: There are no requirements for the minimal capital of a limited partnership.
To register a limited partnership company you need to present:
Also, you need to fill in a D1 form to reserve the company’s name.
This procedure costs about 180 BGN (approx. €90).
Limited liability company: The minimal capital for a Limited Liability Company is 2 BGN (approx. €1).
A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is founded after a constitutive meeting of all the involved partners.
Upon registration with the Commerce Register you should bring:
All the above forms can be presented in one of the official EU languages, as long as there is a certified translation in Bulgarian attached to them.
The cost of registration for an LLC is about 200 BGN (approx. €100).
Public limited company (PLC): The capital of a PLC should not be less than 50,000 BGN (€25,000).
To register a PLC with the Commerce Register you need:
The cost of this registration here depends on the type of public limited company that is being registered. The average fee is 460 BGN (approx. €230) plus 50 BGN (approx. €25) for name registration. For PLC in the insurance and banking industries, the fees are 1700 BGN (approx. €850) and 50 BGN for name reservation.
If you do not speak Bulgarian, it is best to hire an interpreter to help you with the procedure. Consultancy companies are also available, but you still risk miscommunication.
In Bulgaria, sole propriety owners are considered self-employed. So in order to become self-employed, you need to register a sole proprietor entity.
Self-employed people pay a minimum of 17.8% of their monthly earnings for health and pension insurance. The minimal amount of earnings needed to register as self-employed is 420 BGN (approx. €210).