Background information

On 3 March 2022, the Latvian Parliament Saeima adopted the Law on Assistance to Ukrainian Civilians. The purpose of the Law is to provide assistance to Ukrainian civilians who leave Ukraine or who cannot return to Ukraine due to the armed conflict caused by the Russian Federation. The assistance specified in the Law is provided during the course of the armed conflict. Since it was introduced, the Law has been amended several times.

Section 7 part 8 of the Law sets in force that regional public transport for Ukrainian refugees is for free.

Content of measure

Section 7 part 8 of the Law that sets in force that regional public transport for Ukrainian refugees is for free was added to the law on 12 March 2022. According to the Law Ukrainian civilians have the right to use public transport (buses and trains) on regional routes free of charge.

To receive this service, Ukrainian refugees must present an identity document or other document proving that the person is a resident of Ukraine.

The rule does not apply to commercial regional bus routes marked with a capital letter "K" in the timetables. In turn, free travel on public transport in different municipalities is determined by the local government.

Use of measure

According to the information provided by the Road Transport Directorate, from 12 to 31 March, this opportunity was used 17,600 times - 7,100 times on buses and 10,500 times on trains.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Migrants or refugees

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Local / regional government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Informed
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

No specific involvement to report.

Views and reactions

No specific views to report.

Sources

• 14 March 2022: Legislative additional mechanisms to support the people of Ukraine (lvportals.lv)
• 28 April 2022: Support for transport and communications sectors for Ukrainian refugees (www.atd.lv)
• 23 May 2022: Law on Assistance to Ukrainian Civilians (likumi.lv)