Every legal form in Estonia, each with its abbreviation, the kind of entity it is, liability and typical use where they are well established, and the values the Prometiam company object returns.
This guide lists the 18 legal forms the Prometiam dictionary knows for Estonia: what each is called, how it is abbreviated, what kind of entity it is and how it appears in the company object. Use it to read the legal_form of a company registered in Estonia, or to decode a form you meet in a contract or on an invoice. It is a general reference, not legal advice.
Coverage and limits for Estonia: company records only (no officers, no registry-compliance signal); sole traders (FIE) are never served. Contains data from the Estonian e-Business Register (RIK), CC BY 4.0.
| Form | Abbreviation | Kind | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osaühing | OÜ | Private limited company | A private limited company (osaühing): liability is limited to the share capital, and its shares are not offered to the public. The most common form. |
| Aktsiaselts | AS | Public limited company (joint-stock company) | A public limited company (aktsiaselts): the minimum share capital is EUR 25,000, and its shares may be listed. |
| Täisühing | TÜ | General partnership | A general partnership: the partners are jointly liable without limit. |
| Usaldusühing | UÜ | Limited partnership | A limited partnership: at least one partner is liable without limit, the others only up to their contribution. |
| Mittetulundusühing | MTÜ | Association | A non-profit association. |
Every company object carries four legal-form fields: legal_form (the standard abbreviation, null when the form is not mapped), legal_form_family (the cross-country family, so a private limited company compares across countries), local_legal_form (the register’s own value or code as stored) and local_legal_form_name (the register’s name for it, where it publishes one). Each form below shows the values the API returns for it.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer rk_live_..." \ "https://api.prometiam.com/functions/v1/risk-api/companies/search?country=EE&name=<company name>" # each result carries, for example: # "legal_form": "OÜ" # "legal_form_family": "private_limited_company"
Private limited company: a company with its own legal personality whose owners are, as a rule, not personally liable for its debts and whose shares are not offered to the public.
A private limited company (osaühing): liability is limited to the share capital, and its shares are not offered to the public. The most common form.
OÜlegal_form OÜ, legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form OÜPublic limited company (joint-stock company): a company with its own legal personality and share capital whose owners are, as a rule, not personally liable; the family of forms that can usually raise money from the public.
A public limited company (aktsiaselts): the minimum share capital is EUR 25,000, and its shares may be listed.
ASlegal_form AS, legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form ASSElegal_form SE, legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form SEGeneral partnership: the owners run the business together and, as a rule, answer personally for its debts.
A general partnership: the partners are jointly liable without limit.
TÜlegal_form TÜ, legal_form_family general_partnership, local_legal_form TÜLimited partnership: at least one partner answers without limit for the debts, the others only up to what they contributed.
A limited partnership: at least one partner is liable without limit, the others only up to their contribution.
UÜlegal_form UÜ, legal_form_family limited_partnership, local_legal_form UÜCooperative: an organisation owned and run by its members.
TÜHlegal_form TÜH, legal_form_family cooperative, local_legal_form TÜHSCElegal_form SCE, legal_form_family cooperative, local_legal_form SCEEconomic interest grouping: members cooperate in a shared activity while staying independent businesses.
EMÜlegal_form EMÜ, legal_form_family economic_interest_grouping, local_legal_form EMÜAssociation: a membership body, usually non-profit.
A non-profit association.
MTÜlegal_form MTÜ, legal_form_family association, local_legal_form MTÜMPÜlegal_form MPÜ, legal_form_family association, local_legal_form MPÜERAKlegal_form ERAK, legal_form_family association, local_legal_form ERAKAMETÜlegal_form AMETÜ, legal_form_family association, local_legal_form AMETÜFoundation: assets set aside for a purpose, with no owners.
SAlegal_form SA, legal_form_family foundation, local_legal_form SABranch of a foreign company: an establishment or registration of a company incorporated abroad.
FILlegal_form FIL, legal_form_family branch_of_foreign_company, local_legal_form FILPublic body: a state, local-authority or other public-law entity.
TRASlegal_form TRAS, legal_form_family public_body, local_legal_form TRASAVOIGlegal_form AVOIG, legal_form_family public_body, local_legal_form AVOIGKOVASlegal_form KOVAS, legal_form_family public_body, local_legal_form KOVASCo-ownership: joint ownership of property by several owners, often without legal personality.
KÜlegal_form KÜ, legal_form_family co_ownership, local_legal_form KÜSee the Estonia company data API guide for the register behind these records and the free Registry code lookup to try an identifier. For the register states that go with these forms, read company status in Estonia. All countries: company legal forms.
Search by name or identifier and read legal_form, legal_form_family and local_legal_form on every result, or filter a bulk list by family.
Start your 14-day free trial · API documentation
The 14-day free trial needs a card, nothing is charged during it, and it then continues as Starter (EUR 9.99/month) unless you cancel; it includes 500 credits.