Businesses in North Macedonia are registered by the Централен регистар на Република Северна Македонија (Central Registry of the Republic of North Macedonia), which keeps the Трговски регистар (Trade Register) and the Регистар на други правни лица (Register of Other Legal Entities) as a single one-stop-shop system. Companies and sole traders go into the same register, receive a unique registration number and a tax number in one procedure, and their core data is published as a public basic profile. The Central Registry also keeps the register of beneficial owners, the register of annual accounts, the pledge register and the single register of transaction accounts.

The official company register in North Macedonia

The register is kept by the Централен регистар на Република Северна Македонија (Central Registry of the Republic of North Macedonia), published at crm.com.mk. Its work rests on a group of statutes: the Закон за Централен регистар (Law on the Central Registry), the Закон за едношалтерскиот систем и за водење на трговскиот регистар и регистарот на други правни лица (Law on the One-Stop-Shop System and on Keeping the Trade Register and the Register of Other Legal Entities), and the Закон за трговските друштва (Law on Trade Companies), together with the legislation on contractual pledges, leasing, payment operations, securities and banks that gives the Registry its other registers.

Registration works on the едношалтерски систем (one-stop-shop principle). A single application for entry of incorporation is filed with the Trade Register and the Register of Other Legal Entities, either independently or through a регистрационен агент (registration agent) — in practice a lawyer or accountant authorised to file electronically. The entity emerges from the procedure with its ЕМБС (unique registration number of the entity) and its ЕДБ (tax number), so registration and tax identification are not separate errands.

North Macedonia keeps one register for legal entities and for individual entrepreneurs alike. A трговец-поединец (sole trader) is entered in the same Trade Register as a joint stock company and appears in the same public search. Non-commercial legal persons — associations, foundations, institutions, chambers and political parties — are entered in the parallel Register of Other Legal Entities kept by the same institution.

Four further registers of the Central Registry matter in practice:

  • Регистар на вистински сопственици (Register of Beneficial Owners) — entities under a legal obligation to do so record their beneficial owner electronically, defining the ownership indicator, and are responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of the data.
  • Регистар на годишни сметки (Register of Annual Accounts) — the annual accounts that entities must submit to the Central Registry.
  • Заложен регистар и регистар на договори за лизинг (Pledge Register and Register of Leasing Contracts) — security interests over movable property and finance-lease arrangements.
  • Единствен регистар на трансакциски сметки (Single Register of Transaction Accounts) — the bank accounts held by an entity, from which the Registry issues a current-status statement.

Legal forms that can be registered in North Macedonia

Article 20 of the Law on Trade Companies fixes a closed list of company forms, and Article 12 defines the sole trader.

  • Трговец-поединец, ТП (Sole trader) — a natural person who carries on a trade activity as an occupation and answers for the obligations of the business without limit with his entire property. Registered in the Trade Register like a company.
  • Друштво со ограничена одговорност, ДОО (Limited liability company) — the dominant Macedonian form: capital divided into stakes, members liable only up to their contributions, transfers of stakes restricted by the articles. Where it has a single member it is designated ДООЕЛ (single-member limited liability company), which is how most small businesses in the country are organised.
  • Акционерско друштво, АД (Joint stock company) — capital divided into shares, shareholders liable only for their shares; the form required for banks, insurers and other regulated businesses and the one used to raise capital publicly.
  • Јавно трговско друштво, ЈТД (General partnership) — two or more partners trading under a common name, each answering for the partnership’s obligations without limit and jointly with the others.
  • Командитно друштво, КД (Limited partnership) — combines partners with unlimited liability who manage the business and limited partners whose exposure is capped at their contribution.
  • Командитно друштво со акции, КДА (Limited partnership with shares) — shareholders alongside at least one partner with unlimited liability who conducts the business; rare but available.

Other registrable structures:

  • Подружница на странско трговско друштво (Branch of a foreign trade company) — the local establishment of a foreign company, registered in the Trade Register with the parent’s documents and the particulars of the person authorised to represent it; it has no separate legal personality.
  • Здруженија, фондации и установи (Associations, foundations and institutions) — non-profit legal persons entered in the Register of Other Legal Entities rather than in the Trade Register.

One point worth checking against older sources: the Central Registry periodically publishes lists of sole traders and companies struck off under Article 552-a of the Law on Trade Companies, so an entity found in an outdated database may in fact have been deleted from the register.

Information available from the register

The Central Registry publishes a основен профил (basic profile) of every registered entity, described by the Registry itself as the public overview of the public data it administers. It shows the ЕМБС registration number and the ЕДБ tax number, the full and the abbreviated name, the date of establishment, the legal form and the status of the entity, its address, its principal activity, its size category, and any note that the entity is in bankruptcy or liquidation. That is enough to identify a counterparty and to see at a glance whether it is still trading lawfully.

The full picture comes from the потврда за тековна состојба (certificate of current status) issued from the Trade Register and the Register of Other Legal Entities, which adds the founders or members and their holdings, the manager and other persons authorised to represent the entity together with the scope of their authority, the management and supervisory bodies, the capital, the registered activities, and any restrictions recorded against the entity.

Two services go further than a conventional register. The информација за поврзани субјекти (information on related entities) returns, for a given person, the entities in which that person is an authorised representative, a member of a management body or an owner — a genuine person-to-company search that makes group and network structures visible. And the тековна состојба на трансакциски сметки (current status of transaction accounts) draws on the single register of transaction accounts to show the bank accounts attached to an entity.

Annual accounts are submitted to the Central Registry and held in the register of annual accounts, so financial data is obtained from the same institution as the corporate data. For professional users — courts, enforcement agents, bankruptcy trustees, banks and accountants — the Registry operates a Дистрибутивен систем (distribution system) giving structured online access to register information.

What the register does not disclose

Beneficial ownership sits in a separate register with its own access regime. Recording is compulsory only for the entities on which the anti-money-laundering legislation imposes the obligation, it is done electronically by the entity’s authorised representative, and the data does not form part of the free basic profile. Access is governed by that legislation rather than by the general publicity of the Trade Register, so ultimate ownership should not be assumed to be retrievable in the way that registered members are.

The register also does not substitute for other checks. Certificates and detailed extracts are chargeable services rather than open downloads, financial data must be requested from the register of annual accounts rather than read off the profile, and shareholdings in a joint stock company are maintained in the company’s own share register and in the central securities depository rather than in the Trade Register. Sectoral licences and tax standing are matters for the competent ministries and the Public Revenue Office.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Потврда за тековна состојба на субјект (Certificate of current status of an entity) — the official extract from the Trade Register and the Register of Other Legal Entities: identity, legal form, address, activity, capital, founders, managers and their powers, and status. The standard document for banks, tenders and contracts.
  • Основен профил на регистриран субјект (Basic profile of a registered entity) — the public overview with registration and tax number, names, date of establishment, legal form, status, address, activity and size; the quickest confirmation that an entity exists.
  • Информација за поврзани субјекти (Information on related entities) — the list of entities in which a given person is an authorised representative, a member of a governing body or an owner; used to map groups and to check a director’s other roles.
  • Тековна состојба на трансакциски сметки на субјект (Current status of an entity’s transaction accounts) — the bank accounts recorded for the entity in the single register of transaction accounts, needed for payment and enforcement purposes.
  • Годишна сметка (Annual accounts) — the annual financial statements submitted to the Central Registry and held in the register of annual accounts; the basis of credit and counterparty analysis.
  • Решенија и акти од уписот (Registration decisions and registered acts) — the decisions of the Registry and the documents on which each entry rests, including the founding act and articles, resolutions on changes of name, seat, capital, activity, managers and members, and the acts of transformation, merger or liquidation.
  • Документи за подружница (Branch documents) — the foreign parent’s constitutional documents and the appointment of the representative in North Macedonia, filed on registration of a branch.
  • Податоци од Заложниот регистар и регистарот на договори за лизинг (Data from the Pledge Register and the Register of Leasing Contracts) — the security interests and finance leases recorded against the entity’s movable property; an essential lending and asset-purchase check.
  • Пристап преку Дистрибутивниот систем (Access through the distribution system) — structured bulk and repeat access to register information for courts, enforcement agents, trustees, banks and accountants.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in North Macedonia?

It is the Trade Register and the Register of Other Legal Entities, kept by the Central Registry of the Republic of North Macedonia under the Law on the One-Stop-Shop System and the Law on Trade Companies, and published at crm.com.mk.

What are ЕМБС and ЕДБ?

The ЕМБС is the unique registration number given to an entity on entry in the register; the ЕДБ is its tax number. Both are assigned in the same one-stop-shop procedure and both appear in the entity’s public basic profile.

What is the difference between ДОО and ДООЕЛ?

Both are limited liability companies. ДОО denotes a company with two or more members; ДООЕЛ denotes the same form with a single member. The liability regime is identical — members answer only up to their contributions.

Are sole traders in the register?

Yes. A трговец-поединец is entered in the same Trade Register as companies, so a sole trader can be verified with a certificate of current status exactly like a ДОО, even though the owner is personally liable without limit.

Are the accounts of Macedonian companies public?

Annual accounts are submitted to the Central Registry and kept in the register of annual accounts, from which they can be obtained. They are not part of the free basic profile, so financial data must be requested separately.

Can I identify the beneficial owner of a Macedonian company?

Registered founders and members are visible in the certificate of current status. Beneficial ownership proper is held in the Central Registry’s separate Register of Beneficial Owners, which entities under a statutory obligation must complete electronically and whose access is governed by the anti-money-laundering legislation rather than by the general publicity of the Trade Register.

Sources

Keywords

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