Turkmenistan branch office in 2024

A Turkmenistan branch office is a strategic way for foreign companies to do business in the resource-rich Central Asian country. Healy Consultants will complete Turkmenistan branch office registration and bank account opening within six months, without our Client needing to travel.

• Advantages of setting up a Turkmenistan branch office

  • For foreign companies wishing to consolidate their income and expenses, a Turkmenistan branch office is preferable to setting up a local subsidiary;
  • There are no restrictions on the type of activity a Turkmenistan branch office can conduct. However, during Turkmenistan branch office registration, the activity type is defined by that of the parent company;
  • The costs of doing business in Turkmenistan, from office rentals to utilities and salaries, are significantly lower than the global average
  • A Turkmenistan branch office has no share capital requirement;
  • Opening a Turkmenistan branch office corporate bank account takes one day;
  • A Turkmenistan branch office can recruit foreign staff;
  • Our Client does not need to travel to complete Turkmenistan branch office set up.

• Disadvantages of setting up a Turkmenistan branch office

  • Turkmenistan branch office registration takes three to six months following submission of documents to the Registrar;
  • All corporate documents must be translated into Russian and Turkmen, and then notarised;
  • A Turkmenistan branch office must appoint a local accountant, who can be either i) an employee of the branch office or ii) a local accounting firm;
  • A branch office must appoint a Turkmen citizen as a director. The director will receive a 10% salary/fee increment every year for the duration of the directorship;
  • The foreign parent company of the local branch office must have a share capital of at least US$1 million;
  • The foreign parent company must have been incorporated at least five years prior to registering the Turkmenistan branch office;
  • The foreign parent company cannot be an offshore company (e g Bahamas, Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands and some free zone companies. However, a UAE Free Zone Enterprise (FZE) can set up a Turkmenistan branch office;
  • Turkmenistan is considered one of the world’s most corrupt countries;
  • The Turkmen economy is one of the world’s most restricted;
  • It is difficult to open a foreign currency bank account for a Turkmenistan branch office.

• Best uses of a Turkmenistan branch office

  • Foreign companies engaged in oil and gas, textiles and construction find a Turkmenistan branch office to be an effective access point into the country;
  • A Turkmenistan branch office is well suited to import/export activities.

• Turkmenistan branch office incorporation steps

  1. The branch office premises is identified, and a tenancy agreement signed;
  2. Details of the branch office’s intended activities are submitted to the Turkmenistan Statistics Office;
  3. The representative authorised for registration issues submits the following documents to the registration authority;
     • Standard application form, signed by the foreign parent company founder and affixed with the foreign founding company’s corporate stamp;
     • Application for registration, signed by the founder and affixed with the foreign founding company’s corporate stamp;
     • Protocol/Decision of Founder, signed by the foreign founding company and affixed with the corporate stamp);
     • A notarised copy of the Power of Attorney (PoA) for the branch office director must be legalized by the Turkmen embassy in the foreign parent company’s country, or the Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The PoA will include i) date of issue ii) effective period iii) full name and passport data of the branch office director and iv) list of his/her powers);
     • Original Personal Information Sheet, signed by the individuals who sign the registration documents on behalf of the founder, along with an attached photo (4cm x 5cm);
     • Five original Personal Information Sheets, signed by the manager of the future branch office, along with attached photos (4cm x 5cm);
     • Colour passport copy of the manager of the future branch office, along with certified translation. For foreigners, the passport should be the one to be used for trips to Turkmenistan;
     • Colour copy of the passport of the individuals who sign registration documents on behalf of the founder, along with the certified translation;
     • Two original documents of the regulations of the branch office in Turkmenistan, signed by the founder and affixed with the founder’s corporate stamp;
     • An original banking reference letter for the founder, stating his/her financial status and the bank account number. The bank reference letter must be legalised by the overseas Turkmen embassy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ashgabat;
     • E-mail copies of the last three years of financial reports and audit reports of the foreign parent company;
     • E-mail copies of international certificates of the founding company issued by any standards organisations;
     • E-mail of information on the activity of the foreign parent company (data on projects implemented/being implemented);
     • E-mail on legal entities conducting construction activities – data on construction equipment of the foreign parent company (including country of origin, year of manufacture etc);
     • E-mail data including foreign parent company personnel, organisational structure;
     • E-mail copies of reference letters from previous customers;
     • Data regarding activities in Turkmenistan: copies of contracts, memoranda of understanding, documents from ongoing talks and discussions, tender bids etc;
     • Reference letters from partners in Turkmenistan requesting the Registrar to support the opening of the branch office;
     • PoA for the person who will deal with registration. The PoA must be legalised by the Turkmen embassy overseas, or the Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs);
     • E-mail copies of documents appointing/nominating CEOs of the foreign parent company (those individuals who sign documents in the registration package);
     • E-mail Information regarding corporate email addresses and website(s) of the foreign parent company;
     • Copy of a three-year business plan in Turkmenistan (if one exists).
  4. The registration authority will review the registration package in about 60 working days;
  5. Once the registration package is approved, the branch office founder prepares the following documents and delivers them to Turkmenistan:
     • Cash amount of US$2,300 as the payment of the registration fee;
     • Original extract from the official registration document of the founder, issued by the body that registered the founder. This document must be legalised by an overseas Turkmen embassy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ashgabat. This document is required for tax registration, and must be submitted within 90 days of its legalisation;
     • Letter from the tax authority in the foreign parent company’s country of incorporation, stating the tax number (code) of the tax payer. The letter must be an officially certified translation, and be legalised by the overseas Turkmen embassy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ashgabat. This document is required for tax registration, and must be submitted within 90 days of its legalisation.
  6. The registration authority, within about seven working days of the receipt of the payment certificate, will provide a temporary Extract of Registration;
  7. The representative authorised for registration issues visits the Statistics Office, the Tax Authority, the Pension Fund, bank (local currency account) and updates the temporary Extract of Registration. The temporary Extract of Registration is then submitted to the registration authority;
  8. Notarisation of the temporary Extract of Registration with the branch office (physical presence of the manager required) for the bank local currency account;
  9. The representative authorised for registration issues prepares a package for the city municipality, to obtain official confirmation of the branch office legal address. This document is submitted to the registration authority, along with the temporary Extract of Registration;
  10. Within about seven working days, the registration authority provides the renewed extract from the United Register of Legal Entities of Turkmenistan and the Certificate of State Registration of the legal entity in Turkmenistan;
  11. Notarised copies of the registration documents of the legal entity in Turkmenistan are provided to the Turkmenistan bank and Turkmenistan tax authority;
  12. A fee of TMT1,800 must be paid to the registration authority from the legal entity’s bank account via bank transfer. Thereafter, the Certificate of the Participant of Foreign Economic Relations is issued by the registration authority within seven working days;
  13. The package to create an official branch office stamp is prepared and submitted to the police, editorial office and the printing office. This takes up to two weeks;
  14. Opening of the foreign currency bank account;
  15. Notarisation of the Branch Office director’s signature (in the presence of the bank manager) with the stamp of the legal entity;
  16. Creation of the branch office seal must be approved by the police. Creating the branch office seal is a three-step process – seal design, police authorisation and seal manufacture. Police authorisation takes one week;