Every businessman thinks about the development of his company, looking for the best conditions for the realization and development of his potential. Some decide to move to Europe, where today there are more opportunities for doing business. Many Russian and Ukrainian companies decide to move to the Baltic countries, some open a business in Lithuania. These states have a huge number of advantages, but it is necessary to realize that in another state there are completely different laws and rules, therefore it is necessary to understand them.
What you need to know before starting a business in Lithuania?
Lano Solutions specialists have prepared a list of things that businessmen who are going to start a business in Lithuania need to know.
Do not believe advertising that offers to register a company in a few hours or one day. We can confidently say that only the transaction itself on the registration of the acquisition of the company takes a couple of hours, but all the other legal and registration procedures take more than one day. These are just advertising slogans.
Always contact the specialists, as they will do their work, relying on the requirements of the legislation, and in carrying out any actions they will look a step further. A trivial example: if you acquire more than 25% of the shares of a Lithuanian company, the transaction must pass through a notary who confirms its legality and assures all documents. However, in practice, many consultants offer to take advantage of the “loophole” and conclude 5 separate contracts for the sale of 20% of the company’s shares in each in order to, in their opinion, bypass the requirement of the law for notarizing the transaction. It would seem that it is profitable, but it should be understood that subsequently the shares of such a Lithuanian company would be impossible to sell correctly, since the notary is unlikely to want to recognize the validity of the previous transaction (out of 5 contracts).
You can open a business in Europe in several ways. We wrote about this earlier. As one of the options we can speak not about opening a new company, but acquiring an already finished one. In this case, you must make sure that the company really did not conduct any activity, and the provisions on the absence of such activities and the limitation of liability you as the new owner of the company entered into the contract. Even if the notary or the seller of the company insists on concluding a standard transaction (according to the existing template), you have the right to ask him to add additional items to it as you wish.
For legal opening of a business in Lithuania by representatives of Ukraine or Belarus (as well as some other countries), it is necessary to go through the process of licensing currency transactions in their home states, and then obtain permission. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in fines or irregularities in the country of residence.
Opening a business in Lithuania is accompanied by the choice of a company name. There is one huge BUT: at the request of the Lithuanian law, the company name must be in Lithuanian, with all its grammatical rules being followed. If the name in another language or the name that you use on behalf of another company in another country is important for you, it is possible to apply to the Lithuanian business register to register this name. There are also other ways that allow you to use, for example, English names for Lithuanian companies. There are also other ways to get the desired non-Lithuanian name used by the consultants, but using them slightly complicates the registration process.
The most banal, but necessary point: always check the documents. If you are not concluding a purchase and sale transaction of a Lithuanian company (or its part) through a notary, please make sure that the person who signs all the documents has the right to do so and is the owner of the company. As a rule, the only person who can dispose of shares of a Lithuanian company is a shareholder. A person who is responsible for the conduct of the activities of the company, the safety of its documentation, is the director.
Important information for those who buy a stake in an existing business or an existing Lithuanian company. As in many other countries, in the event that a part of a company’s shares are sold, the seller must initially offer the shares (shares) of the company sold to all remaining shareholders of the same company at the same price that he offers to you. If he did not do this or did not receive an official waiver from the remaining shareholders, he is not entitled to sell his shares.
Such subtleties and laws of another state need to be known before opening a company in Lithuania or the Baltic countries. Only after receiving information and analyzing legal subtleties can one proceed to the very process of starting a business in Lithuania. A detailed description of all actions Lano Solutions staff will write down in the following materials.