General Licence

General licence regarding the determination of authorised payments for legal persons, entities and bodies established in the European Union associated with Sergey Ivanovich Schneider

On 17 September 2026, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued a decision – General Administrative Act No. 13-1/126 “On the Determination of Authorised Payments for Legal Persons, Entities and Bodies Established in the European Union Associated with Sergey Ivanovich Schneider”, which enters into force on 18 September 2026.

The decision provides for the possibility of releasing certain frozen funds, frozen in the Republic of Latvia, belonging to legal persons, entities or bodies established in the European Union that are subject to sanctions and are directly or indirectly owned or controlled by Sergey Ivanovich Schneider, acting alone or together with other sanctioned persons, for the purpose of making payments, provided that the respective payment is authorised on the basis of a documented assessment by the competent authority of a European Union Member State and that the conditions set out in the FIU decision are fulfilled.

In addition, this decision provides for an obligation for the sanctioned persons to submit to the FIU information on the transactions carried out in accordance with this decision once every calendar quarter. The information must be submitted within two weeks after the end of the relevant period using the template provided in Annex 1.

Any other payments may be made by the sanctioned persons in accordance with the FIU decision of 20 February 2026 No. 13-1/16 “On the Determination of Authorised Payments” or upon obtaining a separate authorisation from the FIU in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.

For updates on the implementation of this decision, please follow the FIU website at sankcijas.fid.gov.lv.

The decision is based on Paragraph 5 of Section 10 of the Law on International Sanctions and National Sanctions of the Republic of Latvia, which authorises the FIU to issue a general administrative act regarding the application of exemptions in the implementation of sanctions.

Document 1 (available in Latvian): Decision “On the Determination of Authorised Payments for Legal Persons, Entities and Bodies Established in the European Union Associated with Sergey Ivanovich Schneider”:

Document 2 (available in Latvian): Annex 1 to the Decision – Reporting form

General licence regarding the determination of authorised actions for the performance of obligations of the Latvian branch of UAB ''Valiente'' and SIA ''LATPRODUKTI''

On 6 August 2026, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued a decision – General Administrative Act No. 13-1/98 “On the Determination of Authorised Actions for the Performance of Obligations of the Latvian branch of UAB “Valiente” and SIA “LATPRODUKTI””, which enters into force on 7 August 2026.

As of July 23, 2026, targeted financial sanctions  also apply to SIA “LATPRODUKTI” and the Latvian branch of UAB “Valiente" (sanctioned persons), which operate the MERE retail store chain.

The decision authorises the release of goods owned by third parties which are in the possession, custody or control of the sanctioned persons and their transfer to the respective owners for the purpose of fulfilling obligations that arose before July 23, 2026, without requiring a separate FIU authorisation for the application of an exemption in the implementation of sanctions.

In addition, this decision provides for an obligation for the sanctioned persons to submit to the FIU information on the actions carried out in accordance with this decision once every calendar quarter. The information must be submitted within two weeks after the end of the relevant period in accordance with the template attached to Annex 1 to the decision.

For updates on the implementation of this decision, please follow the FIU website at sankcijas.fid.gov.lv.

The decision is based on Paragraph 5 of Section 10 of the Law on Sanctions, which authorises the FIU to issue a general administrative act regarding the application of exemptions in the implementation of sanctions.

Document 1 (available in Latvian language): Decision “On the Determination of Authorised Actions for the Performance of Obligations of Latvian branch of UAB “Valiente” and SIA “LATPRODUKTI”:

FIDLem_Visparigais_admin_akts

Document 2 (available in Latvian): Annex 1 to the Decision - Reporting form:

Pielikums_Nr.1_zinosanas_veidne

General licence regarding the determination of authorised payments for sanctioned persons

On 20 February 20 2026 the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued a decision – General Administrative Act No. 13-1/16 “On the Determination of Authorised Payments” , which enters into force on 20 February 2026.   

The decision is based on Paragraph 5 of the Section 10 of the Law on Sanctions, which the FIU to issue a general administrative act regarding the application of exemptions in the implementation of sanctions.

The Decision specifies the categories of payments which are allowed to be made in respect of sanctioned natural and legal persons subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources and the prohibition on making funds and economic resources available (sanctioned persons) without requiring a separate authorisation from the FIU for the application of an exemption in the implementation of sanctions.

At the same time, this decision also determines certain permitted payments for ensuring the implementation of sanctions, the making of which is permitted for sworn bailiffs, sworn notaries, sworn advocates and sworn advocates' offices, state and local government institutions of the Republic of Latvia and debt recovery service providers registered in the Republic of Latvia without a separate FIU authorisation for the application of an exception in the implementation of sanctions.

The decision, as a general administrative act in the application of exceptions in the execution of sanctions, applies to the sanctioned persons, in certain cases also to sworn bailiffs, authorizing the execution of certain payments. This decision is also considered a legal basis for credit institutions registered in the Republic of Latvia, branches of credit institutions registered in a Member State of the European Union in the Republic of Latvia, financial institutions registered in the Republic of Latvia and the State Treasury to execute payments authorized by this decision.

In addition, this decision provides for an obligation for sanctioned persons and, in certain cases, also sworn bailiffs to submit to the FIU information on payments made in accordance with this decision during a quarterly period, submitting the information in accordance with the template attached to Annex 2 to the decision together with documents confirming the payments within two weeks after the end of the relevant quarter.

Document 1 (available in Latvian) - Decision "On the Determination of Authorised Payments":

FIDLem_20022026_Visparigais_adm_akts

Document 2 (available in Latvian language) - Annex 1 to the Decision - Authorized payments:

1. pielikums_FIDLem_20022026_Visparigais_adm_akts

Document 3 (available in Latvian language) - Annex 2 to the Decision - Reporting form:

2. Pielikums_FIDLem_20022026_Visparigais_adm_akts

General licence regarding the activities of the diplomatic and consular missions of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus

In the Member States of the European Union, there is a requirement to obtain prior permission from the competent authority for the provision of any services to the government of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus ¹ . In turn, in order to ensure the continuity of diplomatic and consular functions in relation to the activities of diplomatic and consular missions of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Latvia, on 30 December 2025 , the FIU issued a decision - general administrative act No. 13-1/301 “On the Determination of Authorised Services for the Activities of Diplomatic and Consular Missions” , which enters into force on 1 January 2026.

This decision determines a set of services, the provision of which to entities subject to sanctions restrictions – diplomatic and consular missions of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus – is permitted without a separate FIU authorisation permit. The decision was issued on the basis of Article 10, Part 5 of the Law on International and National Sanctions of the Republic of Latvia, which provides for the FIU's right to issue general administrative acts for the application of exceptions to the implementation of sanctions.

FIU points out that the aforementioned decision, as a general administrative act, applies to both representative offices and interested parties – service providers.

The decision requires representative offices to submit information to the FIU once every six months regarding the services received in the relevant six months by filling out and submitting the template attached to the decision within two weeks after the end of the relevant six months. The information must be submitted by sending it by e-mail to sankcijas@fid.gov.lv or by post to the address Vaļņu iela 28, Riga, LV-1050.

For services not included in the set of services permitted by this general agreement, a separate FIU authorisation must be obtained. The FIU, based on an individual assessment, may authorise the provision of such services under conditions it deems appropriate, if compliance with the objectives of the sanctions regulatory framework is established. More information on submitting an application for a permit is available here.

In connection with the implementation of this decision, we invite you to follow the latest information on the FID website  swww.sankcijas.fid.gov.lv .