The business register in Bulgaria is the Търговски регистър и регистър на юридическите лица с нестопанска цел (Commercial Register and Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities), kept by the Агенция по вписванията (Registry Agency) under the Ministry of Justice. It is one of the most open registers in Europe: a single electronic database, free to search online, in which not only the entries but the scanned filed documents and the annual financial statements are published. Sole traders and non-profit legal entities are in the same register as companies.

The company registry in Bulgaria

The register is governed by the Закон за търговския регистър и регистъра на юридическите лица с нестопанска цел (Law on the Commercial Register and the Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities), and its operation is detailed in Наредба № 1 от 14.02.2007 г. (Ordinance No. 1 of 14 February 2007) on keeping, storing and accessing the register. Article 2 of the Law defines it as a common electronic database covering traders and branches of foreign traders together with non-profit legal entities and branches of foreign non-profit entities. Filings are made on standardised application forms, and each entity receives a unified identification code.

The register is now hosted on the Registry Agency’s unified portal together with the property register; the historic address of the commercial register still leads there. A separate register, also kept by the Registry Agency, is the регистър БУЛСТАТ (BULSTAT register), which covers the entities that are not subject to entry in the commercial register: non-trader legal persons, branches of foreign non-traders, foreign legal persons with activity or property in Bulgaria, unincorporated partnerships and the trade representative offices of foreign persons.

Sole traders and non-profits in the same register

A Bulgarian едноличен търговец — ЕТ (sole trader) files in the same system as a limited liability company, using its own application form, and associations, foundations and community cultural centres file theirs. This single-database design is what allows one search interface to cover the whole business population.

Legal forms that can be registered in Bulgaria

Commercial forms are set by the Търговски закон (Commercial Act), non-profit forms by the Закон за юридическите лица с нестопанска цел (Law on Non-Profit Legal Entities):

  • Едноличен търговец — ЕТ (Sole trader) — Articles 56 to 58 of the Commercial Act. A natural person trading under a firm, with unlimited personal liability.
  • Събирателно дружество — СД (General partnership) — Article 76. Partners are liable jointly, severally and without limitation.
  • Командитно дружество — КД (Limited partnership) — Article 99. General partners are unlimitedly liable; limited partners answer only up to their agreed contribution.
  • Дружество с ограничена отговорност — ООД, and its single-member form ЕООД (Limited liability company) — Article 113 and following. Members are liable only up to their share contribution. Following the euro-related amendments in force from 1 January 2026 the minimum capital is EUR 1 with a minimum share of EUR 0.01. This is the standard Bulgarian trading vehicle.
  • Акционерно дружество — АД, and its single-member form ЕАД (Joint-stock company) — Articles 158 and following. The company answers with its own assets; the minimum capital from 1 January 2026 is EUR 25,000.
  • Командитно дружество с акции — КДА (Partnership limited by shares) — Article 253. At least three limited partners hold shares while the general partners remain unlimitedly liable.
  • Дружество с променлив капитал — ДПК, and its single-member form ЕДПК (Variable capital company) — a new form created by Chapter Fifteen «a» of the Commercial Act, Articles 260a and following, introduced in 2023. Its capital is variable and is not entered in the register; the share nominal value may be as low as one euro cent; and the form is reserved to enterprises below defined staff, turnover and asset thresholds. Filings became technically possible in December 2024, and the form is operational.
  • Кооперация (Cooperative) — a trader under Article 1 of the Commercial Act and governed by the Law on Cooperatives, with members liable up to their contribution.
  • Клон на чуждестранен търговец (Branch of a foreign trader) — Article 17a. No separate legal personality; the foreign parent bears liability.
  • Търговец — публично предприятие (Trader that is a public enterprise) — state- or municipality-owned commercial entities.
  • Европейско обединение по икономически интереси — ЕОИИ (European Economic Interest Grouping), европейско дружество — SE (European Company) and европейско кооперативно дружество — SCE (European Cooperative Society) — the EU-law forms, including the Bulgarian division of a grouping established in another Member State.
  • Сдружение (Association), фондация (Foundation), народно читалище (Community cultural centre) and клон на чуждестранно ЮЛНЦ (Branch of a foreign non-profit legal entity) — the non-profit forms kept in the same register; members and founders are not personally liable.

One clarification is worth making: the търговско представителство (trade representative office) of a foreign person is not a form of the commercial register. It is registered with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry under the investment promotion legislation and is entered in the BULSTAT register.

Information available from the Bulgarian business register

Article 11 of the Law states the principle: the registers are public except for information for which a statute provides otherwise, and everyone has free and gratuitous access to the database. Free access is also provided through the EU Business Registers Interconnection System. Access to the complete electronic case file is «registered access», obtained at a territorial office on production of identity or online with a qualified electronic signature or an agency certificate; the scanned images of filed acts are nevertheless part of the free searches of announced acts.

The free online searches cover entries by person or entity, the current state of an entity, deletions, announcements, reserved names, liquidation and insolvency. Personal data are handled carefully: entered circumstances and announced acts are published without personal data other than what a statute requires to be published, applicants must file certified copies with personal data redacted, and certificates and searches may not contain personal data that is not itself subject to entry or announcement.

Annual financial statements are published in the register itself. Under the Закон за счетоводството (Accountancy Act), traders publish their annual financial statement by filing it for announcement in the commercial register by 30 September of the following year, and non-profit legal entities do the same in their register, with exemptions for budget entities, sole traders not subject to statutory audit and dormant entities, which instead file a declaration of no activity.

What is restricted

The area under change is beneficial ownership. Data on beneficial owners are filed into the commercial register and the BULSTAT register under the Закон за мерките срещу изпирането на пари (Measures against Money Laundering Act). A new provision added in 2025 limits access to three categories: competent authorities and the financial intelligence directorate without restriction; obliged entities within customer due diligence; and any person or organisation able to demonstrate a законен интерес (legitimate interest). Beneficial ownership information remains accessible for ten years after the deletion of the entity. It is worth noting that the amending act gave the Registry Agency a long implementation period to build the technical capability to restrict access, so the statutory restriction may be in force while public visibility persists in practice; no notice confirming the technical go-live could be identified.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Удостоверение за актуално състояние (Certificate of current status) — an extract of all currently entered circumstances for an entity: unified identification code, firm, legal form, seat and registered address, capital, partners or sole owner, managers and board members, the manner of representation, branches and any liquidation or insolvency entries. The standard proof of existence and of who may represent the company, used with banks, notaries, counterparties and foreign authorities.
  • Удостоверение за вписвания за определен период (Certificate of entries for a given period) and удостоверение за обявявания за определен период (Certificate of announcements for a given period) — chronological extracts used for due diligence and for tracing changes.
  • Удостоверение за вписано обстоятелство (Certificate of a specific entered circumstance) — certifies one particular registered fact.
  • Удостоверение за обявяване или копие от обявен акт (Certificate of announcement or copy of an announced act) — attests the announcement and supplies the electronic image of the act, such as the articles of association, minutes or the annual financial statement.
  • Удостоверение за липса на вписано обстоятелство или обявен акт (Certificate of absence of an entry or announced act) — the negative certificate.
  • Удостоверение за законосъобразност (Certificate of legality) — issued for cross-border mergers and conversions.
  • Удостоверение за запазена фирма (Certificate of a reserved company name) — confirms that a proposed name has been reserved.
  • Преписи и заверени копия (Transcripts and certified copies) — certified copies from the electronic file have the force of official transcripts; certificates are official documents, may be issued electronically with an electronic signature, and may also be issued by a notary.
  • Годишни финансови отчети (Annual financial statements) — retrievable free of charge from the entity’s file through the announced-acts search.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the business register in Bulgaria called?

It is the Търговски регистър и регистър на юридическите лица с нестопанска цел (Commercial Register and Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities), kept by the Registry Agency under the Ministry of Justice.

Is the Bulgarian company register free?

Yes. Article 11 of the Law makes the registers public and grants everyone free and gratuitous access to the database, including through the EU Business Registers Interconnection System. Access to the complete case file requires identification.

Are financial statements published in the register?

Yes. Traders file their annual financial statements for announcement in the commercial register by 30 September of the following year, and they are freely retrievable from the entity’s file.

What is the variable capital company?

The дружество с променлив капитал (ДПК) is a form introduced into the Commercial Act in 2023 for smaller enterprises. Its capital is variable and is not entered in the register, the minimum share nominal is one euro cent, and filings have been possible since December 2024.

Are sole traders in the same register as companies?

Yes. Sole traders, commercial companies, cooperatives, branches of foreign traders and non-profit legal entities are all in the same electronic database.

Can I see beneficial owners of Bulgarian companies?

Beneficial ownership is filed into the register, but access has been narrowed by a 2025 amendment to competent authorities, obliged entities and persons demonstrating a legitimate interest. The technical implementation of the restriction was given a long deadline, so practice may still differ from the statutory rule.

Sources

Keywords

business register Bulgaria, company registry Bulgaria, Targovski registar, Registry Agency Bulgaria, brra.bg, legal forms Bulgaria, OOD EOOD, AD Bulgaria, variable capital company Bulgaria, company extract Bulgaria, BULSTAT, annual financial statements Bulgaria