Company Registration in Latvia

According to the World Bank’s "Doing Business 2020" Latvia is ranked in 19th place among 190 countries around the world.

13:41 23 April 2021

Latvia is EU country with open economy and legislation designed to attract foreign investments. The process of company incorporation in Latvia is straightforward and quick. The costs to setup company in Latvia are also very competitive if compared to other EU countries.

 

According to the Commercial Law, on must be a merchant in order to be entitled to conduct business. A natural person registered in the commercial register as an individual merchant or a commercial company can be considered as merchants. The most popular type of commercial company are limited liability companies (LLC) or, in Latvian, Sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību (SIA).

 

In Latvia it is possible to incorporate both regular SIA and reduced share capital SIA. While the minimum share capital of regular SIA is 2800 EUR, the minimum share capital of reduced capital SIA can be as small as 1 EUR which makes company formation in Latvia even more attractive. 

 

Every company needs to have a legal address that is included in application for company registration in Latvia. In Latvia it is needed that the landlord of a real property gives consent to use the property as a legal address. Your lawyer will most probably be able to assist you with this. 

 

It is convenient to open a company in Latvia for non-residents as there are no restrictions on the establishment and ownership of shares in a Latvian company. There are three main possibilities for company registration in Latvia: 

 

• founders/board members can visit Latvia to speed up this process;
  
  

• remotely (by signing documents in your country and issuing a power of attorney to a representative (law firm);
  
  

• remotely (by using qualified electronic signatures accepted by the Latvian Commercial Register).

 

More information

 

NJORD has extensive experience in incorporation of all types of Latvian companies. If you have any questions or need additional advice in connection with company incorporation in Latvia, please contact Dmitry Kolesnikov, attorney-at-law, partner of the NJORD office in Riga, (t. +371 67 313 315, dk@njordlaw.lv) @ company registration in Latvia