The Bulgarian Trade Register: how it works

Companies and taxes · Last reviewed: 2026-10-10

What the register does: publicity that binds

The register works on the principle of disclosure. From the moment an entry is made, third parties are treated as knowing who represents the company, what its capital is and how its constitutive act has been amended. The practical effect is that anyone contracting with a Bulgarian company can verify for themselves whether the person opposite actually holds signing authority — and the defence of ignorance becomes much weaker.

EIK: one code, many doors

Every registered trader receives an EIK (единен идентификационен код), a unified identification code. It is at once the company's identity in the register and the reference used by the revenue administration, the social security system and the public procurement process. There is no separate tax number and statistics number to collect; the system is consolidated around a single code.

How registration proceeds

1. 1

   Documents are prepared

   Constitutive act, incorporation resolution, manager's declarations and bank evidence that capital has been paid in; some of these require notarised signatures.
2. 2

   The application is filed online or in person

   With a qualified electronic signature the application can be submitted online, and the state fee is lower for electronic filing. The alternative is a Registry Agency counter.
3. 3

   Review and entry

   A registration officer examines the file and issues instructions if something is missing. Once the entry is made, the company file becomes public immediately.
4. 4

   Every later change is registered too

   A change of address, manager, partner, capital or scope of activity does not take effect against third parties until it has been entered.

The annual duty: publishing financial statements

Most registered companies carry a duty that repeats every year: publishing the annual financial statement in the register. This is a separate act from the annual tax return — one goes to the revenue agency, the other to the register, and doing one does not discharge the other. Dormant companies normally have a declaration duty of their own as well.

Documents for an EOOD application, as listed by the Registry Agency

The Registry Agency's page on how to register a company says that an OOD or EOOD is currently the preferred form for starting a small or medium-sized business, and it lists the following for the application file:

• •A certificate of paid-in capital from a bank of your choice.
• •The manager's consent to take up the post and a specimen signature: notarised and signed by the manager; you can bring a prepared specimen that only needs the notary's certification, or ask the notary's office to draw it up.
• •The articles of incorporation, the minutes of the founding meeting and, for a single owner, the decision appointing that owner as manager.
• •Application form A4: the page calls it the most important document; it is downloaded from the Commercial Register site and all other papers are attached to it.
• •A declaration under Art. 13(4) of the Commercial Register Act that the data is true (signed by the applicant) and, for someone who does not file in person, the Art. 13(5) declaration.
• •Two declarations signed by the manager under Art. 142 (ban on competing activity) and Art. 141(8) (statutory requirements for a manager) of the Commerce Act; a licence or permit if the activity needs one. Reserving the company name (form D1) is optional, and its fee depends on how it is filed.

The Ministry of Economy's small-business handbook gives the minimum capital for an EOOD or OOD as 1 euro and adds that when the application is filed entirely electronically with a qualified electronic signature, the registration fee is significantly lower.

Publishing the annual accounts: the Г2 application

The annual financial statements and the activity report are published in the register on an application in the form of annex Г2 to Ordinance No 1 of 14 February 2007. The Registry Agency's page lists what goes with the application:

• •The annual financial statements under the Accountancy Act, signed by the preparer and the head of the enterprise.
• •The Art. 13(4) declaration of truth signed by the applicant; for micro, small and medium enterprises also a declaration that the competent body has approved the statements and report (not required of sole traders), plus evidence that the general meeting was properly convened and held.
• •Where the applicant is the accountant who prepared the statements, or a lawyer: a notarised power of attorney or a lawyer's power of attorney.
• •No state fee is due on Г2 applications filed after 31 December 2021 (Art. 12(3) of the Commercial Register Act).

BULSTAT: a separate register for those outside the Commercial Register

For persons who are not entered in the Commercial Register, the same agency keeps a separate register, BULSTAT. Those entered include legal entities that are not traders, foreign legal entities that carry on business in the country or own property here, individuals in a liberal profession or craft, and foreign individuals without a personal identification number who provide independent personal services in Bulgaria. The application is filed on paper at a regional office or electronically through bulstat.bg, together with a declaration that the data is true.

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