A practical 2026 guide: the sequencing (entity → assets → founder), exit-tax traps, tax-residency tests, banking continuity, and where CIS founders actually relocate. Practical and non-judgmental.
Relocating a business out of the CIS is not one move but a sequence of three separate relocations: the legal entity, the assets, and the founder. Getting the order or timing wrong turns a lawful relocation into a tax and banking crisis. This guide covers a clean exit without losing operations, written without judgment.
The Russian-language edition is the canonical version; this English summary mirrors its structure.
Entity, assets/operations, and the founder migrate at different times. The classic mistake is opening a company abroad while staying tax-resident at home — the new company then falls under CFC rules. Asset transfer is where exit-tax and transfer-pricing traps live: move IP and client bases at arm's length with valuation, never below market. The founder's tax residency changes last and deliberately, passing the leaving country's tests (often 183 days plus center-of-interests) with a residency certificate from the new country.
Common destinations: UAE (0–9%, residence via company), Armenia/Georgia/Serbia (easy entry, often a transit step), Kazakhstan AIFC, Estonia (e-Residency, 0% retained), Singapore/US for capital and scale. Open the new corporate account before winding down the old one to keep operations running, and mind currency-control rules on the way out.
See the full Russian guide for the destination table and common mistakes.
INNOVA CG supports CIS business relocation end to end, without judgment.
This material is for general information only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Accurate as of the publication date.
