How to Verify a Company in Russia? An Ultimate Guide

Russia is a significant player in global commerce, with a widespread geographical expanse, full of valuable natural resources and manufacturing capacities, and it even acts as a geographic bridge between Europe and Asia. It is, however, a diverse economy and is subject to compliance scrutiny. However, even with regulatory measures in place, verifying potential business partners can still be challenging, particularly due to the prevalence of shell companies.

This guide outlines the challenges faced in navigating the landscape of corporate verification in Russia, and explains how to verify a Company – and its ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) – in a straightforward, credible way.

How to Verify if a Company is Registered in Russia?

To check the legal status of a company in Russia, the Register of Legal Entities (EGRUL) is the official site to collect business data. Maintained by the Federal Tax Service (ФНС), Registration in the EGRUL is obligatory for all legal entities registered to operate in Russia.

In EGRUL, you can get an official extract which contains:

• Full legal name of company, OGRN (Primary State Registration Number), INN TAX ID, and date of registration
• Legal address
• Director and shareholder information
• Registered activities (OKVED business activity codes) and authorized capital
• Company status (active, liquidating, or dissolved) 

This registry is the most authoritative source to determine whether a company is legally established and in good standing.

Step-by-Step Guide to Verify a Company in Russia

To verify a company in Russia, there are certain input parameters that you can enter in the portal’s search bar to get the required document. You can get company details by entering the following search parameters:

1. Name of the Company: On the Russian business registry, the company you wish to verify can be found by entering the name. This means that even if you know only the partial company name, you can just enter and press search, and it will take you to the desired output.
2. TIN or OGRN Number: Companies in Russia are identified by two main numbers, the ИНН (or TIN, or taxpayer identification number) and ОГРН (or OGRN, or primary state registration number), which are assigned, respectively, by the Federal Tax Service for tax-related purposes and during the registration of an entity. The portal allows you to do a company search by using either of these input parameters.
3. Name of the Individual or Entrepreneur: The third type of business search is through the name of the individual or an entrepreneur. If you are not acquainted with the first two search parameters, you can use the name, and you will be taken to the company’s data you wish to verify.

Challenges of Verifying a Company in Russia

Language Barrier

Language is one of the biggest hurdles when verifying a company in Russia. The official business registry and documents connected with it are essentially in Russian, and thus, legal and financial terminologies in the Russian language may not have direct counterparts in English. For foreign businesses, this leaves room for interpretation or partial understanding of Russian laws and regulations unless professional translation or local expertise comes into play.

Data Retrieval Error

The Russian business registry brings forth a huge collection of data that ranges from business registration details to tax information and licenses. Whereas this is useful, it tends to create information overload. For users lacking the right tools or expertise, the lengthy sifting through huge amounts of data to find relevant information can be time-consuming and cause delays in decision-making.

Data Overload

Another major challenge during company verification in Russia is data overload. This happens when registry searches turn up incomplete results, often due to wrong identifiers- TIN or OGRN, temporary “downtimes” of the systems, or technical malfunctions on the portal. Such errors create disruptions in the verification workflows, impeding businesses from acquiring accurate and timely relevant information when it is most needed.

How to Verify Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) in Russia?

Russian law mandates that companies collect, update, and maintain information regarding their ultimate beneficial owners for a period of five years or more. Unlike some jurisdictions with public registries of UBOs, however, a UBO data registry in Russia is not publicly available. Only authorized state authorities including the Federal Tax Service (FTS), Rosfinmonitoring (the financial intelligence unit), the Central Bank, and others are authorized to access the information for compliance and anti-money laundering purposes.

For businesses looking into verifying UBOs within Russia, this presents an obvious challenge. Since public access is not direct, official filings, shareholder data, and enhanced due diligence checks must be relied on to discover ownership structures.

Our platform gives a competitive edge to businesses through our enhanced KYB checks. We help you not just identify key individuals of a company but also trace and verify UBOs of Russian companies. Our data, which is sourced in real time, is totally reliable and can help you ensure complete transparency before onboarding a potential business partner from Russia.

Conducting AML Checks on the Businesses in Russia

Business verification consists of two steps. In the first one, a company goes through due diligence. In the second type of verification, the individuals or persons associated with the business are verified. While the first one is on the basic level, ignoring the second type of KYB process may have serious consequences.

The process of AML checks is as follows:

• Sanctions Lists Screening: Due diligence involves screening business entities against the sanctions lists maintained by governments and regulatory bodies. Sanctions screening ensures that an organization does not conduct business with any blacklisted parties and thus protects it from possible legal sanctions, financial losses, and reputational harm. 
• PEP Screening: This means identifying Politically Exposed Persons in positions of power or influence. PEP screening matters because these individuals represent a higher risk of corruption and bribery, thereby requiring businesses to exercise enhanced due diligence in order to stay compliant.
• Adverse Media Screening: This involves scanning negative information about individuals or entities from global news sources. Adverse media screening helps in the early detection of hidden risks like fraud, money laundering, or environmental crimes, thereby protecting the business from reputational and compliance threats.

Licenses and Certifications for Businesses in Russia

Customs Services FCS

The FCS takes customs duty and clearance related to trade compliance in Russia. It manages import and export licensing and supervises inbound and outbound goods. All companies involved in international business incur a penalty and cannot clear unless all FCS rules are followed.

Central Bank of Russia CBR

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) issues licenses and supervises banks, insurance companies, credit institutions, and other non-bank financial organizations. It establishes regulations on anti-money laundering and ensures financial market stability. Any financial institution operating in Russia must be licensed by the CBR to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

Roszdravnadzor

Roszdravnadzor regulates medical service providers, hospitals, drugstores, and pharmaceutical vendors, issues licenses for medical activities, and guarantees the quality and safety of care. All entities in the healthcare service and pharmacy sector must abide by its requirements in order to carry out their trade. 

Roskomnadzor

Roskomnadzor controls telecommunications, broadcasting, and IT services. It grants a license for operation to telecom operators and ensures the protection of personal data. Companies using the communication or data of users cannot engage in business if they fail to comply with the standards put in place by Roskomnadzor.

How The KYB Can Help You Verify a Company in Russia

The KYB connects you directly to officially recognized Russian registries, including the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRUL) and the Federal Tax Service, which allows you to verify the legal status, registration details, and ownership structure with no manual effort. Our platform eliminates the common obstacles posed by language, fragmented portals, and difficult-to-access legal documents.

Additionally, The KYB integrates data from several Russian authorities in real time, which complements the accuracy and reliability of company verification. Built with AML, sanctions screening simplifies the process into a lot that complies with Russian laws. Besides this, businesses are verified quickly and safely in Russia as part of our global network that covers 250+ corporate registries and 120+ million entities. Quick APIs, real-time data linkages, and secure record-keeping make it possible to verify a company in Russia easily and confidently.

Book a demo today and simplify Russian business verification with ease.