«I’m not promoting Dubai or UAE or specific free zone but providing solution for my clients»

During my numerous visits to Dubai over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of meeting Vera Doljenkova of VERO360 Degree Solutions, Dubai, in person three times. I was very impressed with her knowledge of legal and financial matters, not only in Dubai but also internationally. She was also very punctual at every meeting, which of course pleases me as a Swiss person. During a recent phone call, I asked Vera if I could send her a few questions for an interview. She spontaneously said «yes» and here is the result. If you are interested in Dubai, I highly recommend reading her answers. Thomas J. Caduff, CEO, Fundplat LLC

Ms Doljenkova, your surname doesn’t sound Arabic. Could you tell us something about yourself?

My name is Russian and I’m from Uzbekistan where I grew up and studied.

I came to Dubai in 2008. It was booming at that time and attracted me with its opportunistic spirit, modern architecture (Burj Khalifa was still being built and was called Burj Dubai when I arrived) and of cause mysterious Arabic culture which now feels native to me.

At that time, I had only one year post graduation experience and desperately wanted to explore career opportunities overseas. Dubai opened doors to the world for me.

What is particularly good for you, your husband and your child in Dubai?

Dubai gives people like me and my husband a chance. A significant majority of the population here consisted of expatriates from various countries, making Dubai one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. What I always liked about it is that most of these people came here not for «free lunch» but to fight hard for a better life for themselves and their families.

Dubai is an excellent place to have work and life balance for working couples with children like us. The existing framework allows us to unite families and to hire helpers from any part of the world, we have international schools, nurseries, and various extra curriculum activities. We can do all kinds of sports here. We can even ski throughout the year in Dubai!

You are the owner of the company. Is it easy to set up and run a business here?

I’m running my own company in Dubai, and also, I help other companies to relocate or set up new businesses here. UAE (United Arab Emirates) is becoming very digital now so incorporation process is not complex. The struggle is making the right choices in where to set up and what type of company and getting authorization from regulator when needed. There are several aspects to that, some of that are common with the rest of the world, some are unique to UAE. For instance, each company in Dubai is licensed for specific business activities, some activities can be combined in one license some cannot. Some activities exist in most of freezones and mainland for e.g. management consultancy, but some are only available in specific zones, like recruitment. Some activities require regulatory oversight for e.g. managing funds or providing credit. There is also tax aspect to it, for example some freezones referred to as «designated free zones» are treated for VAT as if company was located outside of UAE, operating from designated zone would also be advantageous for companies engaged in distribution of goods and materials from prospective of corporate income tax, if they meet prescribed criteria. Freezone companies also have tax advantages if they derive «qualifying income». If you are thinking of setting up business in UAE, you need to consider whether you require to hire personnel or operate a shop or office in a specific location.

When we provide clients with our recommendations, many things are taken into account. We estimate the costs of different options and provide client budgets before they even step in. Our expertise is not only in Dubai I have strong professional network across the world, when I see that UAE is not best jurisdiction for my client needs, I recommend them other options overseas. I’m not promoting Dubai or UAE or specific free zone but providing solution for my clients.

What exactly are your services?

When I set up my own firm I wanted to focus on «solutions» and give it 360 degrees view not just sell something of the shelf. This was the approach that I always wanted when dealt with service providers, so I wanted to deliver the same to my clients. That is where «360 Degree Solutions» came from. While looking for all possible solutions for clients it’s equally important to stay ethical – truthful. That’s how I added VERO ahead of the name, VERO means «in true» in Latin. So I called my company VERO360 Degree Solutions.

The solutions that we are providing are in the field of financial and structuring consultancies. We assist companies in getting authorization support and provide ongoing administration for their structures. Our focus is not serving clients but providing solutions for their needs. When we feel we cannot solve a problem we prefer to say «no» at the assessment stage.

Many Europeans are considering moving to Dubai – for private or business reasons. Can they contact you for initial information?

We support clients in initial research when they need to do a feasibility study before even testing waters and when they already decided to go ahead. Our support is at all stages:

1. Pre-incorporation: add hoc research and due diligence, preparation of business plan, drafting policies and manuals, assisting in completion of applications.
2. Setup stage: when structure is already incorporated but not operational, we help in setting up accounting and CRM systems, bank and custody account, register with authorities needed for specific business activity.
3. Ongoing operational support: we provide operational support at different level from basic support when we cover only some aspects like statutory accounting or tax compliance or full operational support when we provide all-in packages of company administration.

We provide services to individual clients as well.

Individuals are not taxed on personal income from employment, property and investment. This is another rational for relocation for many HNWI from Europe. Today there are various options for individual to have residency in UAE without forming a company, based on their circumstances we can suggest the best route to individual relocants.