This guide is the checklist behind a Latvian bid: each document and step in the order a tender asks for it, and who may lawfully handle it. For how Latvian procurement works overall (thresholds, the Russia and Belarus rules, evaluation, payment and complaints), see How to bid for public tenders in Latvia.
Before you bid
1. Register your company in the EIS. Every bid goes through the e-tendering subsystem of the Electronic Procurement System (EIS). The Procurement Monitoring Bureau (IUB) has controlled it since May 2026; the State Digital Development Agency (VDAA) hosts it and registers users.
- Time: 3 working days for a form-based application with no errors. The registration then stays in place.
- Who does it: a company registered in Latvia signs up online by itself. The forms can be filled in for you, but your legal representative signs the registration application and the authorisation (pilnvarojums) naming your EIS administrator, who should be one of your own employees.
- From abroad: self-registration isn’t open to you. Post the forms to VDAA at Alberta iela 10, Rīga, or send them by e-address or email with a secure e-signature.
2. Give your adviser a user of their own. Your administrator keeps the organisation’s user data in the EIS and can set up an adviser with a separate login the same day. The user stays until removed, so your administrator takes it away once the bid is in. Users sign in with eParaksts, Smart-ID, a password and code, or Latvija single sign-on, and EU eIDAS IDs are supported. A foreign user without a notified eID can use the password and code.
3. Line up the qualified e-signature. A single qualified e-signature may cover the entire bid package, and a buyer that takes electronic bids can’t also ask for paper. eParaksts is issued by LVRTC and Smart-ID by SK ID Solutions; qualified signatures from other EU trust service providers are accepted under eIDAS. If your signatory already holds one, it works the same day. It is tied to that person: nobody else applies it, unless a pilnvara names another signatory.
With your bid
4. The ESPD (Eiropas vienotais iepirkuma procedūras dokuments). Buyers have to accept it as first evidence. Prepare one for your own company, one per consortium partner, one per company lending you its capacity, and one per subcontractor whose share of the work comes to EUR 10,000 or more.
- Cost and time: free; 1 day. Valid: for that procedure only.
- Who does it: an adviser prepares it as an EIS user; you confirm the declarations and sign.
5. References. Comparable contracts show your experience. The IUB names missing evidence among the errors it sees most, so back each reference up. They cost nothing, take days to draft from your records, and you confirm them. References from abroad are valid.
6. A pilnvara when someone else signs. A power of attorney (pilnvara) lets a person other than your registered representative sign or act for the company; the EIS administrator’s authorisation is one too. It is free when signed with a qualified e-signature, drafted the same day, and valid for whatever it states. You sign it. Signed on paper abroad, it needs an apostille or a translation as well.
7. Latvian and certified translations. Each procurement fixes its own language. In practice that means Latvian, with certified translations of anything foreign, which a certified translator or a sworn notary provides within days. A complaint to the IUB, too, must be in Latvian or carry a certified translation.
8. Bid security, where the documents ask for it. The buyer may require it or not. If it does, it can’t exceed 2% of the estimated value, or run longer than 6 months from opening. It comes as a bank guarantee, an insurance policy or, if the documents allow, a cash deposit, and the buyer decides which issuers it accepts. A bank or insurer issues it within days after you apply. A faulty security can be put right if the buyer allows it, but check the validity dates before you submit: they are a frequent mistake.
9. Sign the package and submit. Your authorised representative applies one qualified e-signature to the whole package and submits it in the EIS before the deadline.
If you’re in line for award
Before awarding, the buyer checks exclusion grounds and sanctions.
| Evidence | Issued by | Who can get it for you | Valid for | What only you do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exclusion-ground check (e-izziņas), companies registered in Latvia | EIS, from state registers | No one needs to: the buyer runs the check itself, free for you | — | — |
| Tax, criminal-record and insolvency certificates, foreign companies | Your home-country authorities | No one else orders them, as they are identity-bound; a translator certifies the Latvian versions | 6 months from issue, unless stated otherwise | Order them |
| Sanctions and beneficial-owner information, with declarations on Russian and Belarusian origin | You; the buyer checks | The ownership chart and declarations can be prepared for you | — | Sign the declarations; disclose your beneficial owners |
The sanctions part comes with at least 10 working days. The declarations cover the ban on Russian and Belarusian goods and services that has applied since 9 June 2026, and from 1 January 2027 also the nationality of board members and beneficial owners and recent trade with those two countries.
Before the contract and the first invoice
- Construction Merchants Register (Būvkomersantu reģistrs). Any builder, Latvian or foreign, needs an entry before it provides construction services in Latvia, and construction specialists (būvspeciālisti) are certified under the oversight of the Construction Control Bureau (BVKB). An engineer can prepare the application; your representative files it in BIS with their own e-ID or e-signature, and the entry stays valid.
- Performance security. The buyer sets it, mostly on works and larger contracts, and the law puts no cap on it. A bank or insurer issues it for the life of the contract; you apply.
- Peppol e-invoicing. Invoices to public bodies have had to be structured Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 e-invoices since 1 January 2025. An accountant or Peppol provider sets this up within days; you pick the provider.
- A Latvian branch or company, only if you want one. No Latvian legal form is needed to bid. A winner working locally may open a branch or company in the Enterprise Register (Uzņēmumu reģistrs), and a winning consortium may have to form a legal entity. A lawyer or notary prepares and files it under your pilnvara; you sign the founding documents.
Who does what
| Step | Who can do it | What only you do |
|---|---|---|
| EIS registration | Forms filled in for you; online for Latvian companies, through VDAA for foreign ones | Your legal representative signs the application and the administrator authorisation |
| EIS users | Your administrator | Create the adviser’s user, and remove it after the bid |
| ESPD | An adviser, as an EIS user | Confirm the declarations and sign |
| References | Drafted from your records | Confirm them |
| Pilnvara | Drafted for you | Sign it with your qualified e-signature |
| Certified translations | A certified translator or sworn notary | — |
| Bid security | A bank or insurer | Apply |
| Signing and submission | A signatory named in your pilnvara | Sign with your own qualified e-signature, or name the signatory |
| Exclusion check (Latvian companies) | The buyer, in the EIS | — |
| Home-country certificates (foreign companies) | A translator certifies the translations | Order the certificates |
| Sanctions and beneficial-owner information | Prepared for you | Sign; disclose your beneficial owners |
| Construction Merchants Register | An engineer prepares it | File it in BIS with your own e-ID |
| Performance security | A bank or insurer | Apply |
| E-invoicing | An accountant or Peppol provider | Choose the provider |
| Branch or company (optional) | A lawyer or notary, under your pilnvara | Sign the founding documents |
The professionals involved
| Professional | Licensed or regulated by | What they do for a bidder |
|---|---|---|
| Iepirkumu konsultants (procurement consultant) | Unregulated | Works in the EIS e-tendering subsystem as a user your administrator creates; prepares the ESPD set and the tender files for your qualified e-signature |
| Bank or insurer for the bid security (piedāvājuma nodrošinājums) and performance security (līguma izpildes nodrošinājums) | Latvijas Banka (financial supervision) | Issues the bid security (at most 2%, for at most 6 months) and the performance security |
If your company is from abroad
You don’t need a Latvian company to bid: a buyer may not turn you away for lacking a Latvian legal form if you can lawfully do the work where you are established. Who may bid from abroad is covered in How to bid for public tenders in Latvia. For the paperwork:
Register in the EIS through VDAA rather than online, and sign in with a password and code if you hold no notified eID. Your ESPD is the same, and foreign references count. In place of the e-certificate check, you give home-country tax, criminal-record and insolvency certificates, valid 6 months, with certified Latvian translations. An EU qualified signature works under eIDAS, and a pilnvara signed on paper abroad needs an apostille or a translation. The buyer decides whether your bank or insurer is acceptable for the bid security. If you build, the Construction Merchants Register applies to you as well; a Latvian branch or company stays optional.
Pitfalls
- Never hand over your eParaksts or Smart-ID credentials. Your own signatory applies the qualified signature; an adviser works under their own EIS login.
- Screen origin and ownership before you bid. Russian or Belarusian goods and services are barred whatever the contract’s value, a bidder registered offshore (a low- or no-tax jurisdiction outside the EEA and GPA) is excluded, and from 2027 the nationality of board members and beneficial owners and recent trade count too.
- Check the bid security’s validity dates against the 6-month cap.
- Builders: get the Construction Merchants Register entry before any work starts.
- Keep control of your EIS users. Only your administrator should create an adviser’s user, and remove it after the bid.
- Order translations early. Certified Latvian versions of foreign documents are a key risk for foreign bidders.
Doing it with askTender
In Latvia, your askTender Partner is added as a named user on your company’s account on EIS and works under their own login. You keep your own login and sign only what the law reserves to you: the EIS registration application and administrator authorisation, the ESPD declarations, the pilnvara, the bid package with your qualified e-signature, and the sanctions and beneficial-owner declarations. The askTender Desk prepares the ESPD, references and declarations and assembles the tender; askTender Partners, such as a procurement consultant or a certified translator, do the steps their qualification covers.
Questions
Which documents go in with a Latvian bid?
An ESPD for your company, each consortium partner, each company lending you its capacity and each subcontractor whose share is EUR 10,000 or more. Most tenders also want references, a pilnvara is needed if someone other than your registered representative signs, and foreign documents usually need certified Latvian translations. Where the documents ask for it, add a bid security. One qualified e-signature can sign the whole package.
How does a foreign company register in the EIS?
Not online: only Latvian companies self-register. A foreign company sends the registration application and the authorisation for its EIS administrator to VDAA, on paper to Alberta iela 10, Rīga, or by e-address or email with a secure e-signature. An application without errors is registered in 3 working days.
Do Latvian companies have to order tax and criminal-record certificates?
No. For a company registered in Latvia, the buyer checks the exclusion grounds itself in the EIS e-certificate system (e-izziņas), using data from state registers, and it costs you nothing. A foreign company supplies certificates from its home authorities instead, valid 6 months from issue unless the buyer says otherwise.
What sanctions information does a likely winner give?
Before award, the buyer checks sanctions and your beneficial owners, and gives you at least 10 working days for the sanctions part. The ownership chart and the declarations, including those on Russian and Belarusian origin, can be prepared for you; you sign them and disclose your beneficial owners.
Can an adviser sign my Latvian bid?
Only if you name them as signatory in a pilnvara. The qualified e-signature on the package belongs to your authorised representative, from eParaksts, Smart-ID or another EU qualified provider, and should never be handed to anyone. An adviser works in the EIS under their own login.
Sources
- Public Procurement Law (consolidated, likumi.lv)
- Procurement Monitoring Bureau: Supplier Guide
- EIS: registering as a supplier
- EIS: supplier users and the administrator
- Construction Law (likumi.lv)
This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.