We will begin by assuming that you have already defined the size and nature of your market. With this information, we can now begin to determine the structure best suited to your planned activities in Russia.

The first question you will face is whether to establish a representative office or subsidiary of your company. Because the representative office is such a popular option with foreign companies, we address it in greater depth in the pages linked to below.  

Read more about representative offices >>>

A subsidiary could be an "OOO" (Limited Liability Company) or a "ZAO" (Joint Stock Company or "Corporation"). Most common is to create a subsidiary of the "OOO" type (simpler) that is wholly owned by the parent company. In practice, subsidiaries are most commonly established either when a representative office becomes too large or starts local production. It may also play a role in tax planning. One of the main advantages of the subsidiary is that it bears its own liabilities, thus sheltering the parent company.

Once you have established a presence in Russia, you must maintain accounting records and be compliant with tax and other authorities. Outsourcing these functions at least initially can benefit you, freeing time and energy to focus on company strategy and your market. The benefits of outsourcing are outlined in greater detail in Business Support Services.

Of course, these are only the core components to establishing a legal presence in the Russian Federation and you probably have many other questions.  The information provided below will help answer some of those questions.  While we do not directly provide services in most of these areas, we appreciate that they are significant tasks when in a foreign market and so we will address them briefly.

• Finding office space
• Banking
• Hiring personnel
• Communications

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