Co-founder & CEO

Andrey Ovchinnikov

Founded Emirabiz in Dubai in 2013. Helps foreign entrepreneurs set up and operate companies in the UAE — from one-person free zone licenses to multi-jurisdiction holdings with banking across the GCC.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Operating since 2013
English, Russian

What I work on

Areas of expertise.

Company formation across the UAE

Free zone, mainland and offshore structures — activity selection, license, lease, visa quota. Reverse-engineered from the client's goal: banking and tax first, license last.
License pricing & free zone economics

Maintains the sourced pricing dataset behind every figure on this site — current fee schedules of the free zones Emirabiz covers, with source and retrieval date for each number.
Holding structures

Holding companies in ADGM, DIFC and JAFZA — when a holding layer is worth its cost, and when it isn't.
Method & internal tooling

Builds the firm's own software: CRM, pricing database, verification workflow. The tools that keep "Last verified" dates on this site honest.

Credentials

On the ground since 2012.

2012

Relocated to Dubai

Moved to the UAE to explore the market and build a consultancy for foreign entrepreneurs.
2013

Founded Emirabiz in Ajman Free Zone

Started with a single flexi-desk license to test the market and serve the first clients.
2014

Office in DMCC · RAK ICC partnership

Opened a proper Dubai office in DMCC and signed a direct partnership agreement with RAK ICC.
2016

Top-performing agent at RAK ICC

Ranked among RAK ICC's top agents by volume of incorporated companies.
2019

Office expansion

Enlarged the Dubai office and signed direct partnerships with the free zones that form the firm's core portfolio today.
2022

Real estate practice — everhomes.ae

Launched the real estate arm everhomes.ae. Became the best-selling brokerage for IMKAN, Abu Dhabi.
2024

Dubai Expo City HQ · accounting practice

Relocated the firm to a new HQ in Dubai Expo City and launched an in-house accounting and tax practice.

Editorial reviewer

Articles fact-checked by Andrey.

Andrey reviews Emirabiz content on company formation, free zones and pricing before publication. Every figure in those articles traces to a primary source with a verification date — see our editorial policy.

…and 109 more pages

FAQ

Questions clients ask me first.

A free-zone license in 5–10 business days, a mainland license in 7–14. Bank account opening runs in parallel and typically closes 2–4 weeks after the license.

No. 100% foreign ownership is allowed across free zones and most mainland activities. You need to visit once for the Emirates ID biometrics if you take a residence visa — otherwise visits are optional.

AED 15,000–25,000 for a flexi-desk free-zone license with one visa. Mainland with real office space starts around AED 45,000. Banking costs are separate and depend on the bank.

If more than ~20% of your revenue will come from UAE domestic customers, or you need to bid on government contracts, mainland is almost always cheaper end-to-end than free zone + a distributor.