Jump to content

Vehicle registration plates of Lithuania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A current-style Lithuanian registration plate
A plate of the type issued between 2004–2023
A plate of the type issued before 2004

Standard vehicle registration plates in Lithuania bear three letters and three numbers (e.g. ABC 123) in black lettering on a white background. The plates are usually of the standard EU dimensions, but can also be manufactured in the American dimensions for special import vehicles. All plates issued since 2004 also bear a blue EU identification stripe on their left-hand edge. Those issued between the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990 and the country's accession to the European Union in 2004 bore a similar stripe with a small Lithuanian flag in place of the flag of the European Union.

Originally the license plates had a space in the middle for stickers; the stickers were discontinued after April 2018. Plates issued since October 2023 bear the coat of arms of Lithuania between the right side of the EU stripe and the number (above the EU stripe for two-line or narrow plates).

Area designations

[edit]

Until 2004 the second of the three letters in each registration mark indicated the geographical administrative area in which the vehicle had originally been registered, as follows:

Code County Example
A Alytus County AAA 123
J Tauragė County (but code from first letter of Jurbarkas) AJA 123
K Kaunas County AKA 123
L Klaipėda County ALA 123
M Marijampolė County AMA 123
P Panevėžys County APA 123
S Šiauliai County ASA 123
T Telšiai County ATA 123
U Utena County AUA 123
V Vilnius County AVA 123

Numbers beginning with LRS and LRV were issued to government officials. Starting in 2004, the area designation was abolished and any letter (except for Q, W and X, which are not used in Lithuanian registration numbers) became admissible as the middle letter.

Special types

[edit]

Temporary

[edit]

Vehicles issued temporary registration in Lithuania are noted by red alphanumeric characters on white background.

Types

[edit]
Dealer plate
Vehicles imported to Lithuania or vehicles exported from Lithuania
[edit]

As of July 2022, these plates are valid for up to 30 days. They can be re-issued to the same vehicle only after it has been issued standard license plates in the meantime.

24214AA 
Vehicles sold by vehicle selling companies or organizations (professional or trade number plates)
[edit]
P28737 

Plates issued since April 2018 start with the letter P followed by five digits; the registration does not expire. Prior to that, numbers consisted of a letter (P or R) followed by four digits, a space and two more digits, the latter indicating the year of expiration.

Diplomatic Corps

[edit]
Diplomatic plate

Reserved and used by diplomatic corps. Plates have a green background and white characters; they do not have blue sidebar on the left side. The numbers are made up of six digits, grouped 01 3 123, with the first two digits denoting the embassy or other diplomatic or consular representation:

Code Country or Organization
01  Sweden
02  Germany
03  France
04  Latvia
05  Denmark
06  Canada
07  United Kingdom
08  Italy
09  Norway
10  Finland
11  Holy See
12  Turkey
13  Czech Republic
14  United States
15  China
16  Poland
17  Poland
18  Estonia
19  Russia
20  Russia
21  Romania
22  Ukraine
23  Belarus
24  Kazakhstan
25  Georgia
26  Japan
27  Austria
28  Belgium
29  Netherlands
30  Hungary
31  Spain
32  Sovereign Military Order of Malta
33  Democratic Republic of Congo
34  Ireland
35  Portugal
36  Moldova
37  Azerbaijan
38  Bulgaria
39  Armenia
40  Croatia
41  Israel
80 Nordic Council of Ministers
81 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
82 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
83 World Health Organization
84 United Nations United Nations Development Program
85 International Organization for Migration
86 European Union European Commission
87  United Nations
88 European Institute for Gender Equality
89 NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence

Taxicabs

[edit]
T06868 
Taxi registration plate of Lithuania, issued before April 2018

Taxicabs have plates with white background and black text. The first letter is "T" (corresponds to the first letter of the word "taksi" in Lithuanian) and is followed by five numbers.

Before the 3rd of April, 2018, taxi plates had a yellow background and black text, with the same number scheme. These plates continued to be valid and registration centers issued these plates beyond April 3, 2018, until stocks were exhausted.

Military transport

[edit]

Military transportation has black background and white text registration plates. They do not have the side-field, only the flag.

LK321A

Vintage cars

[edit]
H02401 

Plates for vintage cars have been issued since July 1, 2014. Originally these plates had white characters on a brown background, which was changed to black on white as of April 3, 2018. They start with the letter H, followed by five digits (four for motorcycles).

Technical check sticker

[edit]

The registration plate has a special spot, usually between the letters and numbers but occasionally to the left of the letters, to attach a sticker certifying the compulsory periodic technical inspection to check for compliance with safety/emissions standards. The sticker is no longer compulsory from 2015.

Confusion with Swedish plates

[edit]
Swedish standard plate

Lithuanian standard plates are almost identical to Swedish standard plates. The Stockholm congestion tax system uses automatic number plate recognition to identify plates, and this system can not distinguish between Swedish and Lithuanian plates. Initially, non-Swedish cars did not have to pay this tax, but a Swedish owner will be charged if there is one with same number, which is likely. Even after the application of this tax to foreign cars, the problem persists; the Swedish owner of a number, not the actual Lithuanian owner, will be charged. The false tax will be cancelled after a manual check if the owner complains. Swedish taxes must be paid on time anyway and will be refunded if there is an error.

[edit]