Opening a Business in Russia: Foreign Corporate Documents
A foreign company registering in Russia needs its corporate documents—articles of association, registration extracts, board resolutions—apostilled at home, then translated and notarised in Russia. We translate and a Russian notary certifies the translator's signature under Article 81 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries. The process takes 2–3 business days once clear scans arrive. The sequencing point (apostille first, translation second) is what this article explains.
Opening a foreign-owned company or branch in Russia begins with a critical sequencing point that catches most founders out: corporate documents must be apostilled or legalised in your home country before anyone on the Russian side can touch them. We do not apostille foreign documents and nobody in Russia can. That step happens at home, first. Once your documents carry an apostille or a consular certificate, send them to us for translation and notarisation. This article walks through what we translate, what a Russian notary actually certifies, which documents most filings involve, and how to keep your company name and director names consistent across the entire set.
The Core Sequencing Point: Apostille Before Translation
Corporate documents issued outside Russia—your registration extract, articles of association and board resolutions among them—generally need an apostille or consular legalisation in the country that issued them, before anyone on the Russian side can use them. This is not something we do. Nobody in Russia can place an apostille on a foreign document; it has to be handled in the country of origin. The apostille is placed by whichever authority your country has designated for the purpose, and only your own country can tell you which body that is — we will not guess it for you.
But here is the exception: if your company’s documents come from a country that has a legal-assistance treaty with Russia, including the CIS countries, Serbia, and the Czech Republic, no apostille is required at all. Those documents are accepted with their standard official notarization or seal. If you are not sure which group your country falls into, tell us where the documents were issued and we will check for you before you order. Once your documents carry an apostille, consular certificate, or standard seal (depending on your country), they are ready to send to us for translation and notarisation.
Which Documents Most Filings Involve
Most filings involve several corporate documents working together. The first is an extract from the trade or commercial register in your home country, showing that your company is currently active. This extract comes from your own country’s business registry and is usually recent—what counts as recent is set by the Russian office receiving your filing, so ask before you order an extract. The second is the company’s articles of association or charter, the founding document that lays out your company’s structure and rules. The third is often a board or shareholder resolution approving the Russian registration or branch opening, signed by your company’s officers. Some filings also ask for the director’s or founder’s personal passport, translated and notarised, to confirm the identity of whoever is signing the registration papers. If someone abroad is authorizing a representative to sign on the company’s behalf in Russia, a power of attorney translation is usually required as well. That said, the exact list belongs to the Russian authority handling your filing, whether that is the tax authority, the registration authority, a bank or a court. We have no way of knowing every office’s current rules. Take the list from your Russian lawyer or accountant and send it to us; we will confirm we can translate everything on it.
This is why opening a company or branch in Russia rests on the same corporate documents every time, even though the final destination (company registration versus accreditation versus a bank account versus a court filing) differs. The corporate documents are the foundation; the receiving office decides which ones it actually needs.
Why Foreign Sworn Translations Do Not Work
Many countries let a sworn or certified translator stamp a translation and call it official. Russia works differently. Under Article 81 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries of the Russian Federation, a Russian notary certifies the signature of a translator who holds a recognised translation diploma and is registered with that notary’s office. The Russian tax authority, banks, the registration authority and Russian courts and arbitration bodies look for this exact notarised format on foreign corporate documents. A foreign sworn or certified stamp, even a professional one, is usually turned away because the translator is not in any Russian notary’s register and the Russian receiving authority has no way to verify the translator’s credentials.
This is an important boundary. Under Article 81, the Russian notary certifies the signature of the translator—that the person whose name appears on the translation holds a recognised diploma and is registered in Russia. The notary does not verify the accuracy of the translation, does not verify that your company is active, and does not verify any detail of what your corporate documents say. The notary’s seal and signature are what Russian authorities are looking for: proof that the translation was produced by a registered, qualified translator. We produce that format on every corporate document we translate.
Name Consistency Across Every Document
Russian authorities cross-check the spelling of your company name and your directors’ names across every document in your filing. Where the same company or the same director is written one way in one translation and another way in the next, that mismatch is the kind of thing that stalls a filing. The spelling should also match whatever is already used in Russia—an existing bank account, an earlier filing, a contract. Transliteration rules vary by country and by year, and the translator must choose one consistent approach and apply it everywhere.
Before you send anything, settle on the exact spelling of the company name and of every director or founder who has to appear in the Russian text, and tell us what it is. We then use that spelling consistently across every document we translate for you—in a board resolution, a charter, a registration extract, a power of attorney. If anything was translated before, by us or anyone else, send it and we will match it. One spelling across the whole set is the baseline. If we introduce a mismatch, our No Translation Error Guarantee covers redoing it at no charge, on a rush basis.
Price and Turnaround
Pricing depends on which documents are in your set and how long each one is. An extract from the trade or commercial register runs from €69 per document. The company’s articles of association or charter starts at €89, depending on page count. A corporate power of attorney runs €59 per document. If you are translating a full set—extract, articles, resolution, power of attorney, or several of these together—send them all at once and we will quote a combined price and a single turnaround for the whole set. Standard turnaround is 2–3 business days from the moment we receive clear scans of each document, your confirmed name spelling, and the name of the Russian authority that asked for the translations. You get a signed PDF scan of each translation by email as soon as the work is done.
The exact turnaround for your own documents is fixed before you pay, not adjusted afterwards. Send scans through our order form and you will have a fixed price and honest deadline within 2 hours during working hours.
- 1 Apostille on corporate documents in your home country Articles, registration extracts, board resolutions — apostille or consular legalisation, placed by the authority your own country has designated. Countries with a legal-assistance treaty with Russia, the CIS states, Serbia and the Czech Republic among them, as a rule need neither; confirm before you order.
- 2 Send apostilled documents to us Clear scans of every page, confirmation of the exact spelling of company and director names, and the name of the Russian authority that asked for the translation.
- 3 Our translator renders each into Russian and a notary certifies Licensed translator produces Russian versions; Russian notary certifies the translator's signature under Article 81 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries.
- 4 You receive notarised translations ready to file Standard turnaround: 2–3 business days. Signed PDF scan by email, ready to submit to the FNS, a bank, or any other Russian authority.
What to Send Us
- Clear scans of the corporate documents you need translated — articles of association, trade register extracts, board resolutions — every page legible
- The apostille page or certificate of legalisation, if your country requires one for Russia (see above to check whether yours does)
- The exact spelling of the company name and the full names of every director or signatory as they should appear in Russian
- What the documents are for—company registration, branch accreditation, a bank account, or a court filing—so we know the receiving authority
- Your confirmation that any required apostille or consular legalisation has already been placed in your home country
- A phone number, email, or Telegram handle so we can reach you with any questions
You May Also Need
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Translate Foreign Corporate Documents
Full details on why foreign sworn translations do not work in Russia, which documents a filing typically requires, apostille rules by country, and pricing.
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Opening a Company in Russia: Documents
The sequence you follow from home country to Russian filing, which documents most registrations call for, and the role of a Russian lawyer.
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Translate a Power of Attorney
If someone abroad must sign on behalf of your company in Russia, a notarised power of attorney translation is often required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do our corporate documents need an apostille before we send them to you?
It depends on your country. Countries in the Hague Apostille Convention need one, placed in the country of origin on the original. Countries with a legal-assistance treaty with Russia—including the CIS countries, Serbia, and the Czech Republic—do not need one. Tell us your country and we will confirm before you order.
Can we use a translation of our corporate documents made in our home country?
No. Russian offices work with translations notarised inside Russia under Russian law, not with a foreign sworn-translator stamp. Send us the original documents and we will produce a translation that is accepted in Russia.
Which documents do we actually need to translate to register our company in Russia?
Most registrations involve an extract from your trade register, your articles of association or charter, and a board resolution. Many also ask for the director's or founder's passport. The exact list belongs to the Russian authority handling your filing—take it from your lawyer and send it to us.
What does a Russian notary actually certify on our corporate document translation?
Under Article 81 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries, the Russian notary certifies the signature of the translator—that the person holding that diploma is registered with that notary. The notary does not verify the accuracy of the translation or the contents of your corporate documents.
How do we make sure the company name and director names are spelled the same across all documents?
Tell us the exact spelling you want before we translate anything. We will use that spelling consistently across every document in your set. If anything was translated before, send it and we will match it.
How long does it take to translate a full set of corporate documents?
Standard turnaround is 2–3 business days from the moment we receive clear scans of all documents, confirmation of name spelling, and the name of the receiving authority. A combined price and single turnaround applies when you send a full set together.
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We are not a Russian government agency and do not handle business registration filings ourselves; we provide certified translation and notarization of your corporate documents. An apostille on foreign corporate documents is placed in the country where they were issued, not by us; we accept documents that already carry one, or originals from a country that does not require one under a legal-assistance treaty with Russia, such as the CIS countries, Serbia, or the Czech Republic. Foreign sworn or certified translations are not accepted by Russian authorities; a Russian notary must certify the signature of a registered translator under Article 81 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries, which is what we provide. Which documents a specific Russian authority will accept, the choice between registering a subsidiary and opening a branch, tax structure, profit repatriation, and other legal or tax matters are questions for a Russian lawyer and accountant. We do not advise on those matters. Always confirm current requirements with your Russian legal counsel and the receiving authority before you order. This is not legal advice.
