In favour of Ukraine: Latvia will confiscate cars with Russian licence plates
15 February 2024 23:27
On 15 February, amendments to the Law on Road Traffic came into force in Latvia, allowing for the confiscation of cars with Russian licence plates, reports 
with reference to Delfi.
According to media reports, owners of cars registered in Russia had until 14 February to either register their vehicles in Latvia or take them out of the country.
According to the new amendments, cars registered in Russia can only stay in Latvia in transit, while vehicles registered in Russia can cross the Latvian border in transit only once.
To enter Latvia with a car with Russian licence plates, you must provide information about the vehicle, the driver and the period of time during which the car will be used in the country. However, this period should not exceed 24 hours.
If the car is not registered in Latvia or is not exported from the country and its use in Latvia is recorded without proper permits, the Latvian authorities have the right to confiscate the vehicle.
The confiscated cars will be transferred to Ukraine.
It is allowed to use a car with Russian number plates only in the following cases
- the car is owned (or used) by a person who has privileges and immunities in accordance with international norms binding on Latvia,
- the car belongs to a diplomatic mission or an international organisation, etc.
In these cases, the driver must have documents confirming the above circumstances.
Fines for the illegal use of cars with Russian licence plates are also being introduced, ranging from 750 to 2000 euros.
Latvia bans cars with Russian number plates: details
It is also worth recalling that since 12 September, Latvia has already banned the entry of cars with Russian registration plates.
In the annotation to the Traffic Law, the Ministry of Justice noted that in view of Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine and aggression, the presence of Russian-registered vehicles in Latvia is unacceptable.
The legislative changes are based on the European Commission’s clarification that the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia in 2022 also apply to personal vehicles with Russian registration of Russian citizens.
Similar rules prohibiting Russian citizens from entering the EU with their vehicles are being adopted in other countries. Currently, all the Baltic states and several other countries have already imposed restrictions on the entry of cars with Russian registration into their territory. In particular, Finland, Norway, Poland and Bulgaria have introduced similar measures.
Confiscation of cars in Latvia
In February 2023, the Latvian Saeima amended legislation to allow the transfer of confiscated vehicles to the Ukrainian government. Thus, it was possible to transfer to Ukraine the vehicles that were confiscated in Latvia from drivers who were driving under the influence of alcohol.
Latvia has already sent a total of 271 cars confiscated from drunk drivers to Ukraine. As of mid-December 2023, the total value of the confiscated cars is estimated at almost €1 million.
