The procedure of registration and re-registration of non-profit organizations and foundations in Bulgaria has been significantly changed with the new amendments of the Non-profit Legal Entities Act. The changes were published in Bulgarian SG in 2016.

From 2018 on all Bulgarian non-profit organizations shall be entered into a special Non-profit Legal Entities Public Register of Bulgarian Registry Agency. Presently registration is made at the District Court by the seat and registered address of the entity and there is not one unified register where the status of the non-profit entities can be checked.

The new register shall include and make public a number of important data such as:

• Name, main objectives and means to achieve them;
• Headquarters and official address of the non-profit organization or foundation;
• Names and personal details of all members of the managing board;
• Foundation act; statute;
• All decisions regarding changes in circumstances;

Announcement of any of the above listed circumstances should be made no later than one month from the day of occurrence of the relevant circumstance.

Re-registration of non-profit organizations and foundations in Bulgaria is a totally new legal phenomenon. It concerns those foundations and organizations registered with the district courts before the amendments. All existing Bulgarian foundations and non-profit organizations shall undergo a re-registration procedure under the new rules. By the end of 2020 all those entities are obliged to file an application for re-registration accompanied by a certificate of good standing issued by District Court by their seat and a BULSTAT registration certificate.

The same requirements apply to branches of Bulgarian non-profit organizations and foundations.

There is an option changes of circumstances to be filed together with the re-registration application, regardless of the nature of the new circumstance, including dissolution of Bulgarian non-profit organizations or foundations.

After their re-registration with new register, Bulgarian non-profit organizations and foundations and their foreign branches will be excluded from the BULSTAT register and the BULSTAT code will be changed with an Unified Identification Code of a non-profit legal entity. After the re-registration the legal entity will keep its current name.

The good news is that the re-registration will be free of charge, including for branches. The same re-registration process was carried out a few years ago for the commercial companies when the public commercial register was created.