Buying a Ukrainian company as a foreigner

Documents issued under the law of a foreign state are accepted for Ukrainian state registration after consular legalisation or an apostille, unless an international treaty provides otherwise (art. 15 part 1 item 13, Law of Ukraine No. 755-IV).

The purchase is a share transfer: the seller alienates its share in the charter capital to the buyer (art. 21 Law No. 2275-VIII), both sign a share transfer deed, a notary certifies the signatures, and the state registrar records the new participant in the Unified State Register. The EDRPOU code, registration date, VAT status and licences stay with the company.

Sources: Law No. 755-IV art. 6, 9, 15, 17, 26; Law No. 2275-VIII art. 21; Tax Code of Ukraine item 70.1, 70.5; Law No. 361-IX art. 1; Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. Updated 28.09.2026.

The list for the state registrar is set by art. 17 part 5 Law No. 755-IV. Documents are filed in Ukrainian and may carry a second language at the applicant’s choice (art. 15 part 1 item 1).

Proof of existence. When a foreign legal entity joins an LLC as participant, the registrar receives a document confirming its registration in its home country: an extract from a trade, bank or court register (art. 17 part 5 Law No. 755-IV). The extract must be issued not earlier than one month before filing (art. 15 part 1 item 13-1). The registrar checks the legal capacity of the non-resident on this extract and, if needed, on its constituent documents (art. 6 part 7).

Apostille or legalisation. Ukraine acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents by Law No. 2933-III of 10 January 2002. For a document from another state party, the only formality is an apostille issued by the competent authority of the state where the document was drawn up (art. 3 of the Convention). Documents from a state outside the Convention go through consular legalisation, unless a bilateral treaty provides otherwise (art. 15 part 1 item 13 Law No. 755-IV).

Translation. A document in a foreign language is translated into Ukrainian with the translation or the translator’s signature certified in the established manner (art. 15 part 1 item 14).

Representative. A buyer who does not come to Kyiv may act through a representative. For registration purposes the authority of a representative is confirmed by a notarised power of attorney (art. 6 part 7 Law No. 755-IV). A power of attorney certified by a foreign notary is a foreign public document: it needs an apostille or consular legalisation and a certified Ukrainian translation (art. 15 part 1 items 13–14; art. 1 of the Hague Convention covers notarial acts). We prepare the text of the power of attorney in advance so that the notary abroad certifies the right wording.

Bank. A Ukrainian bank carries out due diligence on its client: identification and verification, establishing the ultimate beneficial owner and obtaining the ownership structure (art. 1 part 1 item 34 Law No. 361-IX). After the change of owner, expect the company’s bank to ask for documents on the new participant and UBO. Each bank sets its own list; we collect it at the start of the deal.