Uzņēmumu reģistrs — Latvian commercial register

The Uzņēmumu reģistrs (UR — Latvijas Republikas Uzņēmumu reģistrs) is Latvia's official commercial register, under the Tieslietu ministrija (Ministry of Justice). It issues the vienotais reģistrācijas numurs (unique 11-digit registration number) identifying every Latvian legal entity. This number also drives the VAT number (LV + 11 digits) and the PEPPOL EndpointID ICD 0218 used for eRēķins.

History — from the 1990 register to UR open data

UR was created in 1990 by the Par Latvijas Republikas Uzņēmumu reģistru act — even before fully recognised independence. It is one of the first operational post-Soviet registers. Thirty years later it is fully digital: online filings via e-paraksts, public API consultation, open data for statistical research. BRIS connection in 2019 and PEPPOL ICD 0218 integration in 2024 firmly place it in the EU e-invoicing ecosystem.

1990       | Likums Par Latvijas Republikas Uzņēmumu reģistru — creation of
           | the Latvian commercial register, two years before fully
           | recognised EU independence.
           |
1991       | First legal-entity registrations (SIA, AS, IK). Unique
           | registration number vienotais reģistrācijas numurs.
           |
2004       | EU accession — alignment with European commercial registers.
           | BRIS (Business Registers Interconnection System) exchanges.
           |
2010       | Lursoft (private company) becomes the reference provider for
           | enriched register data (financials, directors, links).
           |
2017       | UR opens part of its data as open data — daily JSON + XML
           | feeds on ur.gov.lv and data.gov.lv.
           |
2019       | BRIS interconnection live — cross-border EU search via
           | e-justice.europa.eu.
           |
2021       | UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owners) register accessible via UR
           | under AML 4 and 5 directives.
           |
2024-2026  | PEPPOL ICD 0218 integration — vienotais reģistrācijas numurs
           | becomes the standard EndpointID for eRēķins.

Governance — UR + Tieslietu ministrija

UR is a State agency under Tieslietu ministrija. It operates the register, legal-entity registration, the UBO register (since 2021), the investment funds register and the security interests register. Lursoft is a private operator consuming the UR API and enriching the data (financials, credit scoring) — the de facto private Companies House, widely used for KYC by banks.

Schema — vienotais reģistrācijas numurs

The vienotais reģistrācijas numurs (unique registration number) is an 11-digit identifier. Format-controlled: no official mod-N checksum, but structural validation via the UR API. The number stays with the entity throughout its life — mergers, spin-offs, legal form changes do not trigger renumbering.

• Format: 11 decimal digits, the first digit carries semantics (4 = commercial company, 5 = public entity, 9 = State entity).
• Intra-EU VAT: LV + same 11 digits.
• PEPPOL: ICD 0218, format LV40003123456 or sometimes without prefix depending on the SMP.
• API: REST on ur.gov.lv (search, company record, UBO).
• BRIS: cross-border search via the e-justice.europa.eu portal.

# Company search via UR API (GET example)

GET https://www.ur.gov.lv/api/v2/companies/search?regNr=40003123456
Accept: application/json

{
  "regNr": "40003123456",
  "name": "SIA Rīgas Inženierija",
  "legalForm": "SIA",
  "address": "Brīvības iela 100, Rīga, LV-1001",
  "vatNr": "LV40003123456",
  "registrationDate": "2008-04-21",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "naceCode": "71.12",
  "ubo": [
    {
      "name": "Jānis Bērziņš",
      "type": "DIRECT",
      "share": 100
    }
  ],
  "directors": [
    { "name": "Jānis Bērziņš", "role": "VALDES_LOCEKLIS" }
  ]
}

Comparison — UR vs Lursoft vs third parties

Adoption — open data + BRIS

• ~240,000 entities registered with UR at end of 2024 per CSP — commercial companies (SIA, AS), sole traders (IK), public entities (VAS), associations (biedrība), foundations (nodibinājums).
• Open data: JSON and XML files refreshed daily on data.gov.lv, open CC-BY 4.0.
• BRIS: interconnection with all 27 EU registers + Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein. Free cross-border search via e-justice.europa.eu.
• UBO: ~95% of entities had declared beneficial owners by end of 2024 (AML 4/5 obligation).

Common pitfalls

• Confusing vienotais reģistrācijas numurs with VAT number. Same 11 digits, but the VAT number carries the LV prefix. On invoices, putting only 11 digits in the VAT field breaks VIES.
• Wrong PEPPOL ICD. ICD 0218 is the only official Latvian ICD. Many foreign APs default to ICD 0192 (Norway org no) or 0007 (Sweden) — sourcing config to fix.
• Thinking Lursoft = official register. Lursoft enriches but has no enforceable legal value. For litigation or a certified extract, go through UR (ur.gov.lv) only.
• Ignoring legal form changes. A SIA converting to AS keeps its vienotais reģistrācijas numurs. Third-party tools that re-assign a new number break tracking.
• API without pagination. UR listings can return tens of thousands of results. offset+limit pagination is strictly required — otherwise timeout.

Cross-links

• Latvia hub — full view
• eRēķins B2G 2025
• PVN — VAT regimes
• VID — tax authority
• ur.gov.lv — Uzņēmumu reģistrs
• Lursoft — private enrichment
• data.gov.lv — open data
• e-justice.europa.eu — BRIS