# opening a busines in Greece



## sarshaz (Jul 21, 2010)

Hi All,

Just a quick question, If i (A brit) wanted to start a branch of a UK business in Greece would I need a Greek business partner? I.E to open an office and employ locals. :confused2:

Thanks in advance


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## xenos (Dec 20, 2009)

Just off the top of my head - and if im wrong im sure to be corrected - "legally" you need 60K to be able to open a business.

It depends on how official you want to be......There are ways around most things here.


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## sarshaz (Jul 21, 2010)

xenos said:


> Just off the top of my head - and if im wrong im sure to be corrected - "legally" you need 60K to be able to open a business.
> 
> It depends on how official you want to be......There are ways around most things here.


Thanks very much for your reply.


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## karonnz (Mar 8, 2011)

sarshaz said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Just a quick question, If i (A brit) wanted to start a branch of a UK business in Greece would I need a Greek business partner? I.E to open an office and employ locals. :confused2:
> 
> Thanks in advance


No, but you will need to get a greek tax number which does involve some translations etc., best to contact an accountant who walks you through all this.


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## LGK616 (Sep 22, 2009)

It's an absolute nightmare to open a business here. For starters, yes, you need about 60,000 as capital. There's the cost of all the paperwork with lawyers and offices, etc., on top of all of that. You will also need a market research to prove that A) your business can work here and that it would be profitable and B) that the goods cannot be bought or manufactured from surrounding countries like Turkey or Bulgaria (obviously because they will be cheaper there than from the UK).

You will also have to provide warehousing information and if you don't need a warehouse here because it's an e-shop to the UK let's say, good luck convincing them that it's not needed!

There is also the insurance to pay - if you have to pay into TEBE that's about 400 to 500 a month and if you don't pay it - your business is closed. Plus the cost of paying insurance on employees to IKA.

Get yourself a VERY good accountant - one who has done business in Greece preferably. I'm in the process of starting a business and I'd rather give birth 100 times over without pain medication!!!

Good luck!


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## karonnz (Mar 8, 2011)

with regards to the cost, I guess it depends on what kind of business you intend to open, but that's the same everywhere. An accountant will tell you what you need and should prepare all the paperwork for you to run around. The Tebe that LGK616 is referring to is business owners social security and the IKA is social security for staff. As i said if you open a business in both names you will have to pay this Tebe twice - unless the one partner is under 2% and why bother then cause one of you can work social security free anyway. I had hospitality businesses here, so i do not know the laws and paperwork required for importing products from overseas (if that is what you are doing), however once we did attempt to bring in a foreign product for a potential business (that lasted about a month) and we put our house down as the warehouse (we didn't have a shop or office), paid Tebe and then just brought the product in from Europe - it wasn't that hard (it was harder to close down the damn thing). It all boils down to who you have advising you and your embassy here may be able to put you in the right direction. Good luck.


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## stefania (Nov 29, 2009)

*Not all advice is good advice*



sarshaz said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Just a quick question, If i (A brit) wanted to start a branch of a UK business in Greece would I need a Greek business partner? I.E to open an office and employ locals. :confused2:
> 
> Thanks in advance


Be warned that only half of the advice you're getting in this forum is correct. There's nothing wrong with what Karonnz is saying, but you may not understand what she means if you have no background on doing business here. Only half of what lgk616 is right; the rest is wrong. Xenos is incorrect.


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## xenos (Dec 20, 2009)

Types of Companies in Greece, Greek Company Types

orming a Company limited by shares, stock corporation (AE) in Greece
The company limited by shares, or the stock corporation is designed for major companies. It may be formed by at least two individuals who are Greek, or foreign residents. The owner's liability is limited to the amount of capital invested, which in total cannot be less than EUR 60.000. The capital must be paid up entirely and the equity is owned in stocks. The nominal value varies from EUR 0,30 to EUR 100 per share. The directors of a stock corporation are independent, without the obligation to own shares.


Was where I got my incorrect information


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## xenos (Dec 20, 2009)

Just as a matter of interest....where in your opinion were we partially or totally wrong.....


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## xenos (Dec 20, 2009)

stefania said:


> Be warned that only half of the advice you're getting in this forum is correct. There's nothing wrong with what Karonnz is saying, but you may not understand what she means if you have no background on doing business here. Only half of what lgk616 is right; the rest is wrong. Xenos is incorrect.


......

Stefania,

Having looked at a number of your other posts, and your (so far) failure to point out where I was wrong AND EXPLAIN WHY along with the correct response, the question springs to mind WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THIS COUNTRY IF YOU DISLIKE IT AND ITS SERVICES SO MUCH


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## Akay (Mar 11, 2011)

*freelancer / eleuteros epaggelmatias*

Guys I'm a UK citizen and a freelancer translator - I plan to set my business in Greece - so it'll be just me and my computer /no warehouses, goods, other employees. I havent got a clue where to start - where should I go to ask what will I need in terms of papers? for now I'd register over here and travel between Greece and Europe because I have some private issues, but long-term I'd settle in Greece.
I dont know a word of Greek,but my wife-to-be is fluent, so she'd help me with understanding how things go.

thanx in advance


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## Whatshisname (Aug 15, 2010)

Akay said:


> . "...and travel between Greece and Europe..."
> 
> I was under the impression that Greece WAS part of Europe. Do I need to get a refund from my grade school teachers....;-)


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## xenos (Dec 20, 2009)

Whatshisname said:


> Akay said:
> 
> 
> > . "...and travel between Greece and Europe..."
> ...


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## Akay (Mar 11, 2011)

...between Greece and THE REST of Europe... hold down ur weapons


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## Whatshisname (Aug 15, 2010)

xenos said:


> Whatshisname said:
> 
> 
> > ,,,,,,
> ...


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## Cairokid (Sep 15, 2009)

xenos said:


> Types of Companies in Greece, Greek Company Types
> 
> orming a Company limited by shares, stock corporation (AE) in Greece
> The company limited by shares, or the stock corporation is designed for major companies. It may be formed by at least two individuals who are Greek, or foreign residents. The owner's liability is limited to the amount of capital invested, which in total cannot be less than EUR 60.000. The capital must be paid up entirely and the equity is owned in stocks. The nominal value varies from EUR 0,30 to EUR 100 per share. The directors of a stock corporation are independent, without the obligation to own shares.
> ...


@ Xenos

This is probably right for AEs but there are other sorts of companies that have different requirements. We set up an OE with only 20K capital for instance.


@ akay

When we first came to Greece we had to have a Greek partner who owned 51% due to the type of business but the law has now changed.

By the way, we also had a signed and stamped document that said that, although he owned 51%, he did not actually own 51% - very Greek!

I would find out if you need to set up a Greek business. There are hundreds of complications here that you would not have with a UK business. You may find, for instance, that you have to have a separate front door to the part of your house you want to use as an office and that it must be completely unfurnished for inspection by the tax office prior to you 'renting' it to yourself. You will also pay VAT on what you earn - as far as I aware there is no VAT threshold as in the UK.

You may be able to run a UK business here. Get advice from accountants both in Greece and in the UK and see what they say. Running a UK business is 1000% simpler than running a Greek one.


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## xenos (Dec 20, 2009)

Cairokid said:


> @ Xenos
> 
> This is probably right for AEs but there are other sorts of companies that have different requirements. We set up an OE with only 20K capital for instance.
> 
> ...


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## Akay (Mar 11, 2011)

thanx 4 your advice!


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