All businesses in Kosovo — companies, partnerships and sole traders alike — are registered by a single body, the Agjencia e Regjistrimit të Bizneseve (Business Registration Agency, ARBK), which operates under the Ministria e Industrisë, Ndërmarrësisë dhe Tregtisë (Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade). Registration is governed by the Ligji Nr. 06/L-016 për Shoqëritë Tregtare (Law No. 06/L-016 on Business Organisations). Kosovo runs one of the most open registers in the region: the business search is free, and the agency publishes downloadable datasets that include ownership by nationality and gender.

The official company register in Kosovo

The Agjencia e Regjistrimit të Bizneseve (ARBK — Business Registration Agency) describes itself as the sole institution responsible for registering businesses in Kosovo. It works within the ministry responsible for industry, entrepreneurship and trade, and its portal is arbk.rks-gov.net. Applications can be filed at any of the agency’s municipal centres or online through the e-Regjistri i Biznesit (electronic business register) at rbk.rks-gov.net.

Kosovo has one register covering both legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. A biznes individual (individual business) is entered in exactly the same register as a limited liability company; the difference lies in the legal form recorded, not in the institution. Registration is a genuine one-stop procedure: the entity receives a numër unik identifikues (unique identification number) which also serves as its numër fiskal (fiscal number) with the Administrata Tatimore e Kosovës (Tax Administration of Kosovo), so no separate tax registration step is needed.

Two other registers sit inside the same agency or beside it:

  • Regjistri i Pengut (Pledge Register) — the agency runs a dedicated Sektori i Pengut (Pledge Sector) and an electronic pledge register at arbk-rp.rks-gov.net under the Ligji Nr. 04/L-136 (Law No. 04/L-136 on Pledges). It records security interests over movable property and is publicly searchable, which makes it the natural companion check to a company extract.
  • Regjistri i Lejeve dhe Licencave (Register of Permits and Licences) — the separate national register of sectoral permits and licences, showing what a registered business is actually authorised to do.

Bodies that are not businesses fall outside ARBK: non-governmental organisations are registered by the department responsible for NGOs at the interior ministry, and socially owned enterprises awaiting privatisation are monitored and registered by the Agjencioni Kosovar i Privatizimit (Kosovo Privatisation Agency).

Legal forms that can be registered in Kosovo

The agency publishes a closed list of ten registrable forms, each with a mandatory suffix that must appear in the official name — a useful shortcut, since the abbreviation alone tells you the liability regime.

  • Biznesi individual, B.I. (Individual business) — a single owner who is a natural person, with unlimited liability for all debts of the business. The official name must contain the owner’s legal surname or an official designation, plus the abbreviation B.I. No minimum capital applies.
  • Ortakëri e përgjithshme, O.P. (General partnership) — two or more partners, all of whom answer for the partnership’s debts without limit and jointly and severally. The name must include the words “Ortakëri e Përgjithshme” or the abbreviation O.P., and a partnership agreement is required.
  • Ortakëri e kufizuar, O.K. (Limited partnership) — alongside the unlimited partners there are limited partners, who answer for the partnership’s obligations only up to the value of their contributions. The name must include “Ortakëri e Kufizuar” or O.K.
  • Shoqëri me përgjegjësi të kufizuar, SH.P.K. (Limited liability company) — founded by one or more founders, with the company answering for its debts with its own assets and the founders’ exposure limited to their contributions. The dominant form in Kosovo by a wide margin. The name must include “Shoqëri me Përgjegjësi të Kufizuar” or SH.P.K., and a statute and founding act are required.
  • Shoqëri aksionare, SH.A. (Joint stock company) — capital divided into shares, with the company liable to the extent of all its assets and property; it may be formed with one or more shareholders and is subject to a statutory minimum initial capital. The name must include “Shoqëria Aksionare” or SH.A., and a statute, founding act and board of directors are required.
  • Dega e shoqërisë së huaj tregtare, D.K. (Branch of a foreign commercial company in Kosovo) — from the moment of registration a foreign company is treated as having a branch in Kosovo, which has no separate legal personality but acquires the rights and obligations established under the applicable law. The name must be the foreign company’s full name with the suffix “Dega në Kosovë” or D.K.
  • Zyra e përfaqësisë së shoqërisë së huaj tregtare, Z.P.K. (Representative office of a foreign commercial company) — a registered presence for representation rather than trading, named with the foreign company’s full name plus “Zyra e Përfaqësisë në Kosovë” or Z.P.K.
  • Ndërmarrje shoqërore (Socially owned enterprise) — a legal person the majority of whose assets and capital are in social ownership; until privatisation these enterprises are monitored and registered by the Kosovo Privatisation Agency rather than dealt with as ordinary companies.
  • Ndërmarrje publike (Publicly owned enterprise) — an enterprise carrying out an activity of general interest, established by the state, monitored by the government and organised as a joint stock company; all ownership interests are represented by registered shares.
  • Kooperativë bujqësore (Agricultural cooperative) — a commercial company created by natural or legal persons who must all be farmers contributing their own private property to the share capital. It requires at least five founding farmers and cannot exist without capital, which is divided into shares.

Albanian and Serbian are both official languages in Kosovo, and the register accepts filings in either, but the legal-form designations and mandatory abbreviations above are those fixed in the Albanian text of the Law on Business Organisations.

Information available from the register

The register is free and open. The Kërkimi i Biznesit (business search) on the agency’s portal, with its advanced-search filters, allows anyone to look up a business without registration or payment, and the electronic register provides the same data online. For each business the public record shows the official and trade name, the unique identification number that doubles as the fiscal number, the legal form, the date of registration, the registered address and municipality, the declared activities by economic classification, the capital, the owners or shareholders, the authorised representatives and their powers, any branches, and the current status of the entity — active, suspended or dissolved.

That ownership data is genuinely public, and Kosovo goes further than most registers by publishing it in bulk. The Open Data section offers downloads in Excel and JSON of the list of registered businesses, the list of dissolved businesses, the list of businesses with foreign owners, businesses grouped by the country of the foreign owner, and the list of businesses with at least one female owner. The agency also publishes running statistics on the number of businesses by legal form and by economic sector, and periodic reports.

Two further public checks are worth naming. The pledge register lets a lender or buyer see whether movable assets of a business are already encumbered. And the portal offers a Kontrollo vlefshmërinë e certifikatës (check the validity of a certificate) service, so a certificate presented by a counterparty can be verified against the register instead of taken on trust.

What the register does not disclose

The register holds no accounts. Annual financial statements are not filed with ARBK. Under the Ligji Nr. 06/L-032 për Kontabilitet, Raportim Financiar dhe Auditim (Law No. 06/L-032 on Accounting, Financial Reporting and Auditing) they are submitted to the Këshilli Kosovar për Raportim Financiar (Kosovo Council for Financial Reporting), which sits within the finance ministry, and the obligation and audit requirement depend on the size and category of the enterprise. Financial data therefore has to be sought outside the business register.

Beneficial ownership is a work in progress. The Ligji Nr. 08/L-265 për Regjistrin e Pronarëve Përfitues (Law No. 08/L-265 on the Register of Beneficial Owners) was published in the Official Gazette on 22 November 2024, following a public consultation on the draft in 2023. The register it creates is not part of the ordinary business search on the agency’s portal, so at present ultimate ownership must be inferred from the registered owners and, where those are foreign companies, from the registers of their own jurisdictions.

Finally, what the register shows is the legal shell, not the right to operate: sectoral authorisation appears in the separate register of permits and licences, and tax standing has to be checked with the Tax Administration. Socially owned enterprises are handled by the Privatisation Agency, and NGOs by the interior ministry, so neither can be verified through ARBK.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Certifikata e Regjistrimit të Biznesit (Business Registration Certificate) — the certificate issued on registration, showing the official name, legal form, unique identification number that serves as the fiscal number, and date of registration. It is the standard proof of existence for banks, customs, tenders and contracts, and its validity can be checked online against the register.
  • Certifikata me informata mbi biznesin (Business information certificate or extract) — the current register entry: identity, address, activities, capital, owners and their interests, authorised representatives and their powers, branches and status. The core due-diligence document.
  • Statuti (Statute) — the constitutional document of a limited liability or joint stock company, setting out the objects, capital, organs, decision-making thresholds and rules on transfer of interests. The agency publishes model statutes for use on incorporation.
  • Akti i themelimit (Founding act) — the instrument by which the founders establish the company, recording the initial contributions and the first officers.
  • Marrëveshja e ortakërisë (Partnership agreement) — the required agreement for a general or limited partnership, showing the partners, their contributions and their status as unlimited or limited partners.
  • Dokumentet e regjistrimit të ndryshimeve (Filings recording changes) — the applications and supporting documents behind each registered change: transfers of ownership interests, changes of name, address, capital, activities, directors or authorised representatives.
  • Dokumentacioni për degën ose zyrën e përfaqësisë (Branch or representative office documentation) — the constitutional documents of the foreign parent and the appointment of the person authorised to act in Kosovo, filed on registration of a branch or representative office.
  • Dokumentet e shuarjes (Dissolution documents) — the application and decisions recording that a business has been struck off, which is how the end of an entity’s legal existence is proved.
  • Ekstrakti nga Regjistri i Pengut (Extract from the Pledge Register) — the record of security interests registered over a business’s movable assets, with the secured party and the collateral described; essential in lending and asset purchases.
  • Të dhëna të hapura (Open data downloads) — the full lists of registered and dissolved businesses, and of businesses with foreign or female owners, in Excel and JSON, used for screening, market research and network analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in Kosovo?

It is the register kept by the Agjencia e Regjistrimit të Bizneseve (ARBK — Business Registration Agency), the sole body responsible for business registration, operating under the ministry responsible for industry, entrepreneurship and trade. Its portals are arbk.rks-gov.net and the electronic register at rbk.rks-gov.net.

Is the Kosovo business register free to search?

Yes. The business search is open to anyone without payment or registration, and the agency additionally publishes bulk datasets in Excel and JSON, including lists of businesses with foreign owners and by owner country.

Can I see who owns a Kosovo company?

Yes for registered ownership. Owners or shareholders and authorised representatives are part of the public record, and ownership is even published as open data. Ultimate beneficial ownership is a separate matter: the Law No. 08/L-265 on the Register of Beneficial Owners was published in November 2024, but that register is not part of the ordinary public business search.

Are the accounts of Kosovo companies public?

Not through the register. Annual financial statements are submitted to the Kosovo Council for Financial Reporting under the accounting and auditing law, depending on the size and category of the enterprise, and ARBK holds no financial data at all.

Do sole traders appear in the register?

Yes. A biznes individual is registered in the same register as companies, with the suffix B.I. in its official name, and the owner bears unlimited personal liability. There is no separate register for individual entrepreneurs.

How does a foreign company establish itself in Kosovo?

Either by registering a branch, which from the moment of registration is treated as the foreign company’s branch in Kosovo and carries the suffix “Dega në Kosovë” or D.K. without separate legal personality, or by registering a representative office with the suffix “Zyra e Përfaqësisë në Kosovë” or Z.P.K. Alternatively it may incorporate a Kosovo SH.P.K. or SH.A.

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