The Saeima of Latvia, in its final reading, adopted amendments to the law on supporting citizens of Ukraine, which provide for the rejection of several aid measures. This is reported by Delfi, writes UNN.
Details
As the publication notes, the Latvian government has allocated 65 million euros to implement the support measures plan for 2025. For 2026, funding in the amount of 39,717,846 euros is provided. Given the aforementioned reduction in funding, the set of support and services provided to Ukrainian civilians will be reviewed.
Currently, the state ensures that a resident of Ukraine, when starting an employment relationship or being self-employed, has the right to receive a one-time allowance for starting employment in the amount of one minimum monthly salary.
Given that Ukrainian residents are involved in the Latvian labor market or carry out economic activities, and also that other general employment support mechanisms are available, the continuation of this support measure is no longer relevant, the Ministry of Internal Affairs believes.
At the same time, Ukrainian residents retain the right to access the services of the State Employment Agency to the same extent as Latvian citizens.
The adopted changes provide that from now on, Ukrainian residents will have the same rights and to the same extent to discounts on travel and baggage transportation on subsidized regional routes as categories of passengers for whom such discounts are established by regulatory acts regarding categories of travel discounts, the procedure for their application and amount in Latvia.
In the future, Ukrainian residents will not be exempt from patient co-payments when receiving healthcare services.
At the same time, Ukrainian residents will retain the right to continue receiving state-paid healthcare services to the same extent as persons insured in the compulsory state health insurance system in Latvia, i.e., in the same manner and to the same extent as these services are provided to other residents of Latvia.
In the future, the costs of registering their animals and fulfilling mandatory veterinary requirements for Ukrainian residents will no longer be covered.