Setting up a Lithuanian company

Every functioning company in Lithuania has to be registered with the Trade Register. The process takes about a week and implies a series of documentation. This process is similar to foreign and national entrepreneurs, the regulations being the same.

Preliminary activities before registering a company in Lithuania
Before registering the company with the Lithuanian Trade Register the founding members must create a memorandum of incorporation that has to be notarized. This document should contain the company's object of activity, a unique name and the structure of the company, meaning the addresses, names and signatures of the managing board. Also a bank account should be opened in which the minimum capital should be deposited and a bank certificate proving the availability of the funds is necessary.

Registering at the Lithuanian Company Register
 The documents mentioned above have to be filed along with an application form, in order to register at the Company Register. Simultaneously with this procedure the managing board must submit the registration for State Tax Inspectorate (the Lithuanian Revenue Authority) for corporate tax, VAT, and State Social Insurance Fund Board (SODRA). For this procedure the representative of the company must fill in an application for company registration, certified articles of incorporation, minutes of the statutory meeting, corporate decisions on the appointment of directors and a receipt for registration fee payment.

Also the newly formed company must inform the State Labor Inspectorate of the foundation of the company, and this can be done by e-mail, letter, or by phone. It is possible that an inspector is dispatched to verify the truthfulness of the provided information.

Setting up a Lithuanian company from abroad
Lithuanian law permits foreign business activity on its territory, allowing an unlimited ownership, or capital of a foreign entrepreneur. An assignee must be authorized to represent the company and to file the documents needed to found a company, which should be translated in Lithuanian language.

How long does it take to set up a Lithuanian company?
The longest process in establishing a company in Lithuania is the VAT registration. This procedure is finished in 10 to 15 days, while registering at the Company Register is completed in 6 days. Opening a bank account, informing the State Labor Inspectorate, and notarizing the company memorandum take one day each. Opening a Lithuanian company takes up to 26 days.