Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure LV-2022-11/2401 – measures in Latvia
Country | Latvia , applies nationwide |
Time period | Open ended, started on 12 March 2022 |
Context | War in Ukraine |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Measures to prevent social hardship
– Provision of services in kind (e.g. food vouchers) |
Author | Kriss Karnitis (EPC) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 23 May 2022 (updated 20 June 2022) |
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.
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.
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.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers | Does not apply to businesses |
Migrants or refugees
|
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Local / regional government |
National funds
|
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 specific involvement to report.
No specific views to report.
Citation
Eurofound (2022), Free regional public transport for Ukrainian refugees, measure LV-2022-11/2401 (measures in Latvia), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/LV-2022-11_2401.html
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30 January 2023
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