Latvia became the first country to officially recognize Ukrainian electronic signatures
Latvia became the first country in the world to legalize the use of Ukrainian electronic signatures at a level equivalent to a handwritten signature. From 2026, qualified electronic signatures of Ukraine (QES), included in the European Commission’s Trusted List of Third Countries, will have a status in Latvia equivalent to a handwritten signature. This was reported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
“Latvia is currently the first country in the world to legally recognize Ukrainian electronic signatures, equating them to handwritten ones. This will greatly facilitate communication and cooperation between Ukrainian citizens in Latvia (currently over 31,000), as well as between Latvian and Ukrainian businesses, state and local authorities,” said Gatis Ozols, Deputy State Secretary for Digital Transformation at VARAM.
The ministry explained that from now on there is no need for physical visits or paper procedures in order to: cooperate with banks: sign electronic documents (contracts, acts, invoices), which will have full legal force; submit applications for state and municipal services in Latvia;
carry out business activities: conclude agreements with Latvian partners online.
“To interact with Latvian institutions and businesses, you can use Diya.Pydpis-EU or other e-signatures of Ukrainian centers with an assessment of compliance with EU standards. This became possible thanks to the amendments to the Latvian Law “On Electronic Documents”, which entered into force this year”, – the Ministry of Digital Transformation reported.
Previously, the Ministry of Digital Transformation modernized the electronic signature verification service – to confirm the validity of the CEP, paper copies of verification protocols, screenshots or “wet” are no longer required seals.
