Entrepreneurship

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia everyone has the right to engage in economic, including entrepreneurial activities. 
The following people can engage in entrepreneurial activities:

• RA citizens;
• Refugees;
• Foreign citizens;
• Stateless persons (if their right to engage in entrepreneurial activities is not restricted by law).

To carry out entrepreneurial activities you must register as an individual entrepreneur or establish a commercial legal person at the Agency for State Register of Legal Entities of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia. 

(For additional information please contact with the Agency for State Register of Legal Entities of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, phone: +374-10-201445, address: Komitas 49/3, 9th floor, 0051, Yerevan). 

Individual Entrepreneur (IE)

Individual Entrepreneur is a person who is entitled to carry out an activity without forming a legal entity, independently, on his/her behalf and at his/her risk, the main aim of which is to generate profit (income) from the use of property, sale of goods, performance of works and provision of services.

Commercial Legal Person

Commercial Legal Person by its own activities can be:

• an organization which aims to earn a profit (for-profit);
• an organization which doesn’t aim to earn profit and does not distribute the profit among its members (non-profit).

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In order to register as a Commercial Legal Person you must present the required documents to the Agency:

• Application;
• Decision of the founders or minutes of the founders’ meeting on founding of a legal entity and signed by all the founders or, in cases stipulated by law, signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the meeting; 
• When a legal entity is founded by one person the written decision of the founder and the passport copy of the head of the executive body are submitted.
• Charter of the legal entity, approved by the founder(s) or the founding meeting;
• Information about the head of the Executive body of the legal entity or its Officer-in-Charge: passport data and social card number, or a mark on the refusal of the person from the social card and the number of the relevant certificate, email address;
• Application for registration of a trade name (the possibility of registration of a trade name or refusal of registration is determined immediately).

If the founder of a Commercial Legal Person is a foreign national, in addition to the above-mentioned documents, a copy of their passport or other identity document must be presented with a notarized Armenian translation. 
An application submitted to the Agency for state registration must contain:

1. first and last name of the applicant (in the case of a Commercial Legal Person-full name);
2. details of the Passport or Identification card (ID) of the individual, address of residence or registration, registration number and location of the legal entity;
3. an indication that the application is submitted to the Agency;
4. requirement;
5. list of documents attached to the application;
6. date, month, year of application;
7. signature of the applicant or signature of the head of the Executive body or authorized person.

It is possible also to register via the electronic register of the RA Government following this link: https://www.e-register.am/. If the documents required for state registration are submitted electronically through the information system, the requirement to submit the application is considered fulfilled if the person fills in the information system with the information required for the application and certifies the document by electronic signature.

You can also select the type of Commercial Legal Person:

Limited Liability companies (LLC)

Limited liability companies is a company founded by one or several persons. The authorized capital of which is divided into shares at rates prescribed by the by-laws of the company. 
This is the most popular type of legal entity.

Additional Liability companies (ALC)

Additional Liability companies is a company founded by one or several persons, the authorized capital of which is divided into shares at rates prescribed by the by-laws of the company. That is, the same as provided for LLC. The difference is that the participants of this company are jointly and severally liable for its obligations with their property in a multiple of their deposits, identified by the company's Charter for all equally.

Open joint-stock companies

A company is considered open when its shareholders have the right to alienate the shares belonging to them without the consent of the other shareholders. The company has the right to freely sell its issued shares. It is impossible to control the purchase and sale of shares by third parties, given that there are no restrictions on the acquisition and disposal of shares.

Closed joint-stock companies

A company is considered closed when the shares of the company are only distributed among its shareholders, including the founders or between other pre-determined persons. Such a company may not hold an open subscription to shares issued by it or offer to a limited number of persons to purchase them. A closed joint-stock company shall have not more than 49 shareholders, otherwise, it shall be reorganized to Open joint-stock company.

General Partnerships

General Partnership is considered to be a partnership whose participants (general partners), in accordance with the Charter, are engaged in entrepreneurial activities on behalf of the partnership and are liable for its obligations with their property. Only Individual Entrepreneurs and/or Commercial Legal Persons can be general partners, which makes it difficult to create this legal entity. 
This type is not widely distributed.

Non-profit organizations

There are also a number of legal entity forms of non-profit organizations, such as public organizations, foundations, etc. Each legal entity has general and special Charters and regulations that are determined by the specifics of its activities.

Free Economic Zones

Free economic zones (FEZ), more commonly known as free economic territories or free zones, are a class of special areas designated for economic activities and taxed differently. Companies are taxed very lightly or not at all to encourage economic activity. Depending on the country of export each state has its own rules of free economic zones.
Free economic zones of Republic of Armenia include:

• “Alliance” (for high technologies and pharmaceutical industries) in Yerevan;
• “Meridian” (jewelry and watchmaking) in Yerevan;
• “Meghri” (for cooperation with Iran, located just 2 km far from the Iranian free economic zone "Araz").

An investor can become an exploiter of a free economic zone after receiving a decision to permission from the Government of the Republic of Armenia, which is based on an application, a business project, and a certificate issued by the organizer on the conditions for operating in the free economic zone. The process can take up to 4 months. You can learn more about the FEZ by visiting the following link: https://mineconomy.am/en/page/360:

(For additional information please contact with Entrepreneurship Development Department of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, phone: +374-11-597136, for more information https://mineconomy.am/page/86).

International Cooperation

Currently, Armenia has broad prospects for cooperation with Iran, China, India, and Southeast Asia. As a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Armenia has free entry to Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus. Armenia also has free trade agreements with Ukraine, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Georgia.

Armenia is the only CIS member state that uses the "Generalized and Complete System of Benefits" (GSP+) provided by the European Union (EU), which allows exporting more than 6,200 types of goods of Armenian origin to the EU market with zero or reduced customs duties.

GSP mode is also available with the US, Canada, Japan, Norway, and Switzerland.