Is it possible for a foreigner to be manager of company in Ukraine?

When establishing branch office of a foreign company in Ukraine it is necessary to choose director who will act in the interest of the enterprise.

Foreign founders of company mainly prefer to appoint citizens of their country to the position of the manager.

A foreigner can become director of an enterprise registered in Ukraine. Such foreign individual will be subject to Ukrainian labor law as well as to international treaties of Ukraine.

One of the main requirements for lawful stay of a foreigner in Ukraine as well as for his employment is obtainment of special work permit.

Since the candidate to the position of CEO has to be approved prior to registration of company, there may be some difficulties concerning employment of foreigners due to the fact that the company hasn’t been registered yet and employer is factually absent. Therefore, there is nobody to submit application for work permit obtainment.

In practice this issue can be solved by appointment of Ukrainian citizen as manager with further replacement for a foreign one.

In order to get work permit for a foreign citizen it is required for employer to file application with the State Employment Service of Ukraine as well as add all the necessary documents.

The permit is issued within 30 days after submission of documents. Only upon receiving the permit, employer can substitute company’s manager for a foreigner. Such substitution has to be followed by change of information about legal entity in official state register. This procedure takes three business days.

It is very important to follow the procedure of foreigner’s work permit obtainment since if the company enters into labor relations with person without such document, the State Employment Center may impose fine on the employer in the amount of 20 minimum wages (equals to 24360 UAH). Also such employer may face administrative liability in accordance with article 204 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences in the form of fine, the amount of which is between 1700 and 3400 UAH.

Since data on legal entity has to include information about foreign citizen as manager, it is necessary for such foreigner to get ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) certificate. In order to do so, the foreigner has to file application form 1DR with the tax inspection as well as add document confirming his identity along with its notarized translation into Ukrainian. Obtainment of ITIN certificate takes 5 business days.