Translation of Commercial and Company Documents for Slovakia

Slovakia is among the countries with the heaviest concentration of automotive manufacturing in Europe, and a direct market for Turkish component manufacturers. This page describes the documents a company established in Türkiye will submit to the Slovak commercial register, to the manufacturer it supplies or to a tendering authority. The opposite direction, that is a Slovak company setting itself up in Türkiye, is a separate file.

The official translator register and the level of attestation

In Slovakia an official translation is made by a translator entered in the Ministry of Justice register. Together with the translator’s statement and seal, the translation forms a set bound to the original document; the register number appears on the translation and can be verified. A translation from outside the list may not be accepted in official procedures. In a file prepared in Türkiye the chain is the sworn translator’s signature, notarisation and the apostille; commercial counterparties generally accept this, whereas for registration and public procedures the registered translator route is the safer one. Obtaining written confirmation from the authority that will handle the matter saves you having the same text translated twice.

What the Turkish registry documents correspond to

Companies in Slovakia are entered in the commercial register and the entries are open to the public. Your counterparty expects documents from you that serve the same function: a recently dated certificate of activity from the trade registry directorate, the announcement in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette, the articles of association and the signature circular. Where a branch or a subsidiary is to be set up in Slovakia, the resolution of the parent shareholder’s competent organ goes into the file as well. Consistency between the documents is looked for here too: the company name, the address and the numbers are expected to be written identically everywhere in the file. Explaining in a covering letter which document corresponds to what cuts short a good deal of needless correspondence.

Layer	Content	Translation expected
Legal identity	Registry entry, articles of association, signature circular	Certified translation plus apostille
Capability	Quality certificates, audit reports	Stamped translation
Undertakings	Supply agreement, warranty, penalty clauses	Certified translation
Shipping	Invoice, certificate of origin, transport document	Not translated

The automotive supply chain keeps its own rhythm

The manufacturers they supply run the supplier approval process to their own standards, and the documents called for along the way differ from those a public authority asks for: part approval files, process capability reports, measurement records, traceability procedures. A stamped translation is usually enough for these, and many groups accept an English file outright. Framework agreements, non-disclosure agreements and warranty texts, by contrast, produce legal consequences and call for a higher level of attestation. The mistake Turkish suppliers make most often is to lavish care on the technical file and give too little of it to the contract.

Registering a branch and appointing a representative

The commonest way for a Turkish company to operate directly in Slovakia is to register a branch. Because a branch does not create a separate legal personality, the register wants to see clearly who the parent company is and that it intends to open this branch; the articles of association, the registry entry and the resolution of the competent organ sit at the centre of the file. Appointing the person who will run the branch is a matter for a separate resolution, and the limits of that person’s authority have to be set out plainly in the text. If the subsidiary route is chosen instead, the set of documents required from the parent narrows, while further papers on capital and form of incorporation come into play. Ordering a translation before you have settled which structure you are building means the list will change later on.

Cross-border services and posting staff

A separate layer of documents arises for Turkish companies that will carry out installation, maintenance or commissioning work at a site in Slovakia. Providing the service across a border brings with it the notifications relating to the posting of staff and the occupational health and safety papers; the scope of the service contract and the limits of liability also need to be made clear. Some of these documents are obtained from Turkish institutions and translated. Contract texts impose obligations directly on the parties and so call for a certified translation; for staff lists and training records a stamped translation is usually enough. Where the schedule for the posting is short, starting the translation and attestation steps early prevents time being lost waiting on site.

Powers of attorney and the commonest ground for rejection

If you are going to run a registration in Slovakia through your local representative, have the power of attorney drawn up before a notary, obtain its apostille and have it translated after that; keep its scope narrow and support the authority with a current registry entry. Slovakia is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; verify the current list of parties through the HCCH. In commercial files the commonest ground for rejection is that the translation does not bear a registered translator’s seal. The date of the document comes second, and the translation having been detached from the copy of the original comes third. On delivery, a bound and sealed set is expected. You can send us your file through the quotation form, see what the difference in level of attestation costs on our pricing page, and compare other markets in our country guide.

The information here is general in nature; the acceptance requirements and attestation chain of the destination country may change from time to time. For definitive information, rely on the current announcement of the institution concerned.