A representative office, as one of the forms of a foreign company's presence on the Russian market, is being actively used by many foreign participants of foreign trade relations. This enables a foreign company to minimize its expenses and be represented on the Russian market, conduct marketing research, establish business contacts, analyze agreements and projects. A representative office secures a transparent presence of a foreign company in the Russian Federation. Closeness to a business partner, rapid reaction and the possibility to directly contact the company if there are any problems is an obligatory condition of a foreign company's successful operation on the Russian market. The North Chamber of Commerce and Industry issues permits for the activities of representative offices of foreign companies and institutions in the Russian Federation and accreditations in accordance with the law “On the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the Russian Federation” (No. 5340-1 of July 7, 1993, paragraph 3, article 15). The issuing of permissions is the authorized function of the North Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Accreditation is provided for the period of 1, 2 or 3 years. During the period of accreditation services related to accreditation of personnel, passport and visa services are provided.

A foreign legal entity's representative office may be opened in Russia only pursuant to the permission of the accreditation authority. If necessary, a representative office may open its regional branches pursuant to the permission issued by the accreditation authority. The accreditation is issued for one, two or three years and, if necessary, it may be extended. A representative office must obtain a permit for its opening.

List of Documents for Opening (Accreditation) of a Representative Office
A foreign company interested in opening a representative office in the Russian Federation should submit the following documents to the North Chamber of Commerce and Industry:

  • A written application (download) signed by the head of a foreign company, with a company name, date of establishment, location, lines of activity, management representing the company according to its Articles of Association, the goals of opening a representative office, information about a foreign company's ties with Russian partners, outlooks for cooperation development, address, telephone, fax of a representative office in the Russian Federation (or preliminary address and telephone/fax).
  • Articles of Association or Incorporation papers of the company.
  • Registration papers or an extract from the Trade Register or any other evidence of the fact that the company was registered according to the adopted procedure.
  • The company's decision to open a representative office in the Russian Federation.
  • Representative Office Regulations (download)  that define the internal rules, rights and obligations of a representative office in respect to the foreign company (which has to be agreed on with the Foreign Company Accreditation Department of the RF CCI).
  • A recommendation letter of a bank serving the company, with the indication of information on the company's financial reputation.
  • Two recommendation letters from Russian business partners or regional chambers of commerce and industry.
  • Power of attorney (download) for the head of a representative office drawn according to all required procedures.
  • Information about the foreign company (a standard questionnaire is available from the Foreign Company Accreditation Department).

If a foreign company already has an accredited representative office, to obtain a permit for opening other representative offices in the Russian Federation, a foreign company should produce only the documents specified in paragraphs 1, 4, 5, and 7.

The official documents listed in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, with corresponding seals of notary institutions of the country a foreign company was registered in, should be legalized in accordance with the Hague convention of 1961 or through the procedure of consular legalization at a consular institution of the Russian Federation, unless it is otherwise stated by the international agreements of the Russian Federation.

Documents written in foreign languages should have a corresponding translation into Russian attached to them, which is authenticated according to the established procedure.

A representative of a foreign company acting as its spokesman at negotiations on the opening of a representative office, should submit a power of attorney for opening a representative office, authenticated by a notary, to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In the event of the opening of a representative office, a foreign company needs to have, according to the laws of the country of its registration, a special permit from state institutions, then the copy of such permit, authenticated and legalized by a notary, should be attached to the application.

A foreign company should provide any other information about its activities pursuant to the inquiry of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Accreditation is provided for one, two or three years. The term of a representative office's operations is indicated in the permit for its opening. The term of the permit may be extended, if necessary, after foreign legal entity timely contacts the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A foreign legal entity should apply to the CCI for the extension of a representative office's accreditation term at least 21 working days before its expiration.

If a foreign legal entity fails to contact the Chamber for an extension of its representative office's accreditation term, then after its expiry a representative office's activities are terminated. The resumption of a representative office's operations is implemented according to the procedure stipulated for obtaining a permit for its opening.

After the accreditation term is extended, the permit for a representative office's opening and the certificate of the Congregate State Register that were issued for the representative office should be renewed. The accredited staff of the representative office should also apply for the extension of their personal accreditation and renew their personal office cards.

For the entire extended period of the accreditation term, a representative office retains the right to benefit from the full range of services of staff accreditation and passport and visa support.

Contact information:

The North Chamber of Commerce & Industry

International Department

Contact person: Mrs. Nadezda Kumashova, Manager

Telephones:

+7(8152) 554-723, 554-720, mobile telephone: +7 960 020 1605

Tel/fax: +7 (8152) 554-721

E-mail: nkumashova@ncci.ru; ozs@ncci.ru; ncci@ncci.ru