Costs, obligations, certificates, detailed steps
Starting a business can be stressful. Read this guide to opening a company in Montenegro — an explanation of registration, certificates and setup costs.
It may feel like there are 100 things to work on at the same time — but with a bit of planning and the right information, it is possible to efficiently carry out the actions required to launch a business.
Before registering a company in Montenegro, you need to consider:
- All decisions you are making
- Obligations you are taking on
- Costs that await you
Contents of the guide
- Founding the company — preparation of documentation, seal, bank account, registration with the Tax Administration, employment contracts, employee registration
- Electronic certificate
- Electronic fiscalization
- Total costs
1. Preparing the founding documentation
Documentation to prepare for submission to the Tax Administration as part of the founding application:
- Unified registration application — signed by the authorized person (founder) or an attorney (original only)
- Articles of Association — signed by the authorized person (original only)
- Decision on founding the company — signed by the founder and notarized (original only)
- Power of attorney — notarized (with apostille if required) (original only)
- Decision on appointing the executive director
- Decision on appointing the authorized person
- Copy of the ID or passport of the founder
If the founding capital is greater than EUR 10
It must be paid into a transitional bank account and a bank confirmation must be attached to the documentation.
If the founder is already a founder of another company
Additionally:
- Certificate from the Commercial Court that no bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing in the other company
- Confirmation from the Central Bank that that company’s account is not blocked
- Certificate from the Tax Administration that all obligations have been settled
If the founder is a legal entity
- Extract from the register of that entity — notarized (with apostille if required) — not older than 3 months
- If the company is from Montenegro — a CRPS extract is sufficient
Beware of templates
Note: You can find templates for such documentation online, but as the responsible person you are bound by the laws and legal acts they refer to. It is potentially risky to prepare such documentation without an expert.
Software that generates documentation
- E-government portal — free, only for single-member companies
- Registra — EUR 20 + VAT (sole proprietor, LLC, multi-member companies, with or without an attorney)
Mandatory fees for CRPS registration
| Fee | Amount | Account |
|---|---|---|
| Official Gazette | EUR 3 | 520-941100-57 |
| Tax Administration | EUR 5 | 832-3161017-60 |
2. Submitting the documentation
The prepared documentation and proof of fees are submitted by the founder or an attorney at the counter of the Central Registry of Business Entities (CRPS):
Address: Vaka Đurovića 20, Podgorica
After confirmation that the documentation is complete, you receive a case number through which you can check the status online at: pretraga.crps.me.
Note: The founding documentation must be copied — the original is kept, and you will not be able to retrieve it again.
Working hours: 08:00 – 12:30
3. Your company seal
The appearance of the seal is defined in the Articles of Association of the company. Keep this in mind when ordering. We recommend Faximile Podgorica.
Seal price: from EUR 20
Keep the seal in a safe place.
4. Opening a bank account and registering with the state
With the seal and registration decision, go to one of the commercial banks and open a current account.
If you work with international partners, also open a foreign-currency account.
You will receive a “card of deposited accounts” as proof, which you must submit again at the CRPS offices (same address as for the founding documentation).
We will cover the next steps in the following article
We will cover: employment contract for the director and employees, employee registration with the Tax Administration, electronic certificate, fiscalization and total costs.
Planning to open a company in Montenegro? Contact Finance Plus — we run the entire process for you, quickly and reliably.
