Latvia says it is planning to confiscate cars from drunk drivers to donate to Ukraine's army

Cars drive on a snow covered street on December 8, 2022 in Riga, Latvia. GINTS IVUSKANS/AFP via Getty Images

Latvia is planning to donate cars confiscated from drunk drivers to Ukraine's army.

Latvia's finance ministry confirmed that the coalition government agreed on the proposal on Monday.

Volunteers in Ukraine have been retrofitting civilian cars to turn into military-grade vehicles.

Latvia's government is looking to hand over cars confiscated from drunk drivers to the Ukrainian army after the country's new coalition government approved the measure on Monday.

Latvian Prime Krišjānis Kariņ announced the proposal, which was put forward by the finance ministry, at a press briefing on Monday, according to national public broadcaster LSM News.

The finance ministry is currently revising the proposal to prepare it for implementation, a spokesperson confirmed to Insider in an email.

The idea originally came from a Latvian social movement known as Twitter konvojs/NGO Agendum, the finance ministry noted, which has already delivered more than 1,000 cars to the Ukrainian army.

"Now they're seeing a lack of cars to continue their good deed at the same speed," the spokesperson said. "Therefore, we believe that confiscated cars from drunk drivers in Latvia would complement this great initiative."

The proposal follows a change in Latvia's criminal code late last year, which increased the severity of penalties for drunk driving, LSM News reported.

According to the law, cars can be confiscated by the state if the driver's recorded intoxication level is over 1.5 per mille, which is equivalent to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15%.

The cars are then passed to the State Revenue Service, which currently puts them up for auction. But under the new proposal they would be available to be sent to Ukraine free of charge.

Insider previously reported that a team of volunteers had been transforming donated civilian vehicles into military-grade fighting vehicles for Ukraine's army.

Battered farm trucks and other vehicles from the UK and elsewhere in Europe have been retrofitted to provide them protection from mortar and shell fire, making them useful for the Ukrainian military effort, Insider's Bethany Dawson reported in December.

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