Associations Get More Freedom to Donate for Ukraine's Defense
Latvia has adopted changes allowing associations and foundations to donate more freely to support Ukraine, retroactively covering aid provided since 2022.
The Latvian parliament has approved amendments that ease restrictions on non-governmental organizations donating to Ukraine's defense and civilian support. Associations and foundations will now be allowed to donate financial resources or goods for the general support and defense needs of Ukraine without such actions being considered a violation of regulations.
Public benefit organizations will be permitted to make such donations regardless of the areas of activity specified in their statutes or decisions by the State Revenue Service. At the same time, such assistance will be recognized as a public benefit activity.
The new regulation applies retroactively to the entire period since the Law on Support for Ukrainian Civilians came into force in 2022. This eliminates the risk that organizations could be penalized for aid they have already provided to Ukraine.
The authors of the changes note that support from Latvian NGOs to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion has been a significant addition to official state aid, and the goal of the amendments is to remove bureaucratic obstacles to providing this support.
