Every registered business in Georgia sits in one public record, and most of what you need to check about a counterparty, a potential partner, or your own company's status is available for free before you pay for anything. What trips people up is not access - the register is genuinely open - but knowing what the free version actually shows, what only a paid extract adds, and how to read either one properly once you have it in front of you.
What NAPR actually is
The National Agency of Public Registry, NAPR, is the Georgian government body that maintains the Entrepreneurial and Non-Entrepreneurial Registry - the single record of every Individual Entrepreneur, LLC, joint stock company, partnership and branch of a foreign enterprise registered in the country. It is the same agency that handles the registration process covered in how to register a company in Georgia, and the record it maintains is what a search or an extract actually reads from.
NAPR is not the Revenue Service. A company register search shows you legal and structural information - who owns it, who represents it, whether it is active - not its tax filing history or its financial position, which sit with a completely different agency and are not public in the same way. That distinction matters for what a register search can and cannot tell you about a counterparty, covered below.
Searching for free
Basic searches run through NAPR's own public search tools, without an account or any Georgian identification required. You can search by:
- The business name, or a close variation of it.
- The identification code issued at registration, if you already have it from an invoice, a contract or a business card.
- A personal number, if you are looking up an Individual Entrepreneur by the person behind it rather than a trade name.
What comes back for free is enough to answer the question most people actually have: is this a real, currently registered business. The free result typically shows the company's legal form, its identification code, its registration date, its current status - active, in liquidation, or suspended - and the names of the people holding representative authority, meaning who can legally sign on the company's behalf. Scanned copies of certain registered decisions and archive documents are often accessible directly from the same search as well.
This free layer alone answers the two questions that matter before signing almost anything: does this company actually exist on the register, and is the person about to sign the contract actually authorised to do it.
The English-language search portal
NAPR's registry data is also searchable through a parallel English-language public search interface, rather than only the Georgian-language version of the main site. This matters in practice for anyone who does not read Georgian, since the underlying registration data, company names in Georgian script, activity descriptions and officer names, is entered in Georgian regardless of which portal you search from. The English interface makes the search itself navigable; it does not translate the substance of what comes back, which is worth knowing before you assume a fully English result is coming.
For a business name registered in Latin characters as well as Georgian script, searching by the Latin spelling generally works, since company name rules require both to be recorded at registration. An identification code, once you have it, sidesteps the language question entirely, since it is a number rather than a name, and is the most reliable way to search once you have seen it on an invoice or a contract at least once. Running this same search before you settle on a name for a new company is worth doing too, since a name that is confusingly close to an existing one is one of the more avoidable company registration mistakes we get asked to fix after the fact.
What a paid extract adds
Beyond the free basic data, NAPR issues a formal extract, a statement, for any registered entity - including one you have no connection to at all. The register is public in the fullest sense: you do not need to be a shareholder, a director, or even a Georgian resident to request one.
A paid extract typically contains what the free search does not:
- The full ownership and share structure - who the founders are and what proportion of the company each one holds.
- Historical changes, including previous directors, previous addresses, and amendments made over the company's life, not only its current snapshot.
- The registered legal address in full, useful when you are trying to establish whether a business actually operates where it claims to.
- Copies of the founding documents and the charter, where requested as part of the extract.
| Extract type | Fee | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Paper extract, standard | 20 GEL | 1 working day |
| Paper extract, same-day | 75 GEL | Same day |
| Electronic extract, standard | 13 GEL | 1 working day |
| Electronic extract, same-day | 52 GEL | Same day |
An English-language version of an extract carries an additional fee on top of the above, according to NAPR's own published fee schedule. For most due-diligence purposes on a Georgian counterparty, the electronic extract is the practical choice: it is cheaper, fast, and contains the same substantive information as the paper version.
Verifying a counterparty before you sign anything
A register search is one of the cheapest and most useful checks available before entering a contract, opening a joint venture, or accepting a company as a client, and it is worth running as a matter of habit rather than only when something already feels wrong.
Confirm the company actually exists and is active. A search that returns nothing, or returns a status other than active, such as in liquidation or suspended, is the single most important flag available, and it costs nothing to check.
Confirm the person signing is actually authorised to. The free search shows who holds representative authority. A contract signed by someone who is not listed as a director or authorised representative is a real problem waiting to surface later, and it is a two-minute check against the free record.
Check the registered address is genuine, if the extract or the relationship depends on it - a business claiming a substantial physical presence that the registry shows as a bare virtual address is not automatically a problem, but it is a fact worth knowing rather than assuming.
Check the Registry of Restrictions if a lien or pledge matters to the deal. NAPR maintains a separate register of liens, pledges and leases alongside the entrepreneurial registry, and it is worth checking directly if you are lending against a company's assets, buying equipment from it, or otherwise relying on it owning something outright. A company can be perfectly active and properly represented on the entrepreneurial register while the specific asset you care about sits under a registered pledge to someone else entirely, which the entrepreneurial extract on its own will not show you.
Read the founders' participation percentages, not just the names, on a paid extract. A company with the right name and an active status can still have an ownership split that changes the answer to "who am I actually dealing with" - a nominal 50/50 partnership on paper next to a majority holder nobody mentioned in the negotiation is exactly the kind of detail the free search does not surface but the extract does.
Look at the ownership structure on a paid extract if the relationship is significant enough to justify the fee - a joint venture, a supplier you are extending credit to, or an acquisition. Knowing who genuinely stands behind the company is worth considerably more than the 13 to 75 GEL the extract costs.
A clean, active registration and a fully authorised signatory tell you the company is legally real and who can bind it. They do not tell you whether it pays its bills, whether its tax filings are current, or whether it can actually deliver on the contract in front of you. Treat a register search as the first, cheapest check in a due-diligence process, not the whole of it - for anything with real money attached, it belongs alongside references, payment history and a genuine conversation, not instead of them.
Checking your own company's registration
The same search works on your own business, and it is worth running periodically rather than only when something prompts it. Georgia's current Law on Entrepreneurs required every entity registered before the law's reform to bring its own charter and registration data into compliance, on a deadline the registry has already enforced - an entity that never updated its details risks a suspended registration, with no extract issued until the update is filed. That status looks, to anyone else running the same search against your company, indistinguishable from a business in genuine trouble, whether or not that is actually the case.
Checking your own listing is also the quickest way to catch a stale director, an old address still on file after a move, or a founder who left the company without the registry ever being updated. None of these are closure-level problems, but they are exactly the kind of detail a bank, a new client, or a potential investor checks before doing business with you, and it costs nothing to confirm the register matches reality. If your own details genuinely need updating, that is a standard registry amendment rather than anything more involved, and if the business itself is winding down instead, the full process for closing a business in Georgia covers deregistration and liquidation properly.
Where to actually search
For most people, the process in practice looks like this:
- Start with the free public search on NAPR's own portal, using the company name or identification code.
- Confirm status and representative authority from what comes back - this alone answers most pre-contract questions.
- Order a paid extract if the relationship is significant enough to justify checking ownership structure, historical changes, or the registered address in full.
- Choose the electronic version unless you specifically need a paper original with a physical seal for a formal submission elsewhere.
- For anything genuinely high-stakes, treat the extract as one input alongside real references and a direct conversation, not as a substitute for either.
If you are earlier in the process and registering a company yourself rather than checking someone else's, the same registry runs that process too, covered in full in LLC registration in Georgia and Individual Entrepreneur registration. We handle registry searches as a routine part of due diligence for clients structuring a deal with a Georgian counterparty, and we can pull and interpret an extract for you directly if reading a Georgian-language registration document yourself is the actual obstacle.
Whether you are registering a new company or need a registry extract pulled and explained for a counterparty you are about to sign with, we handle the National Agency of Public Registry side of it directly.
See what it costs
Key takeaways
- Run the free search first, every time, before paying for anything - it settles the two questions that actually stop most bad signings: is this company real, and is this person allowed to sign for it.
- Only pay for an extract once the relationship is significant enough to justify it - a joint venture, an acquisition, or extending real credit, not a routine invoice.
- If assets are part of the deal, check the Registry of Restrictions separately rather than assuming the entrepreneurial extract covers it.
- Never treat a clean registry result as the whole check - back it with references and a direct conversation before anything with real money attached goes ahead.
- Re-run the search on your own company once in a while, not only on counterparties, so a stale director or an unresolved compliance requirement does not surprise you from someone else's screen first.
Frequently asked questions
How do I search the Georgian company register?
Through the National Agency of Public Registry's own public search tools, by company name, identification code, or the personal number of an Individual Entrepreneur. No account or Georgian identification is required for the basic search.
Is the Georgian business registry actually public?
Yes. Anyone can search for basic data on any registered entity for free, and anyone can request a formal paid extract on any registered company, not only one they own or manage.
What information is free to see on a company search?
Legal form, identification code, registration date, current status - active, in liquidation or suspended - and the names of people holding representative authority, meaning who can legally sign for the company.
What does a paid extract show that the free search does not?
Full ownership and share structure, historical changes to directors and addresses, the complete registered legal address, and copies of founding documents where requested. The free search only shows a current snapshot of the basics.
How much does a company extract cost in Georgia?
From 13 GEL for a standard electronic extract, rising to 52 GEL for same-day electronic processing, or 20 to 75 GEL for a paper version. An English-language extract carries an additional fee on top of either.
Can I check if someone is actually authorised to sign for a company?
Yes, and it is one of the most useful things the free search shows. Representative authority - who can legally bind the company - is part of the basic public record, without needing to pay for a full extract.
Does a clean registry search mean a company is financially sound?
No. It confirms legal existence, active status and who can sign for the business. It says nothing about solvency, payment history or tax compliance, which are separate questions worth checking through other means for anything significant.
How do I check my own company's registration status?
Run the same free search against your own business name or identification code. It is worth doing periodically, since a stale director, an outdated address, or a suspended status from an unresolved compliance requirement can sit unnoticed until a bank or client checks it first.
What does a "suspended" registration status mean?
Most commonly, it means the entity never brought its registration data into compliance with a legal requirement, such as the current Law on Entrepreneurs' charter update rule, by the deadline the registry enforced. A suspended entity is not issued an extract until the update is filed.
Can a foreigner search the Georgian company register?
Yes. There is no residency or citizenship requirement to search the register or to request a paid extract, in either the free or the paid tier.
How long does it take to get a company extract?
One working day for standard processing, or same day for the expedited fee, in either the paper or electronic format. Electronic extracts are generally the faster and cheaper route for most due-diligence purposes.