From the 1st of January, 2026, prospective drivers in Lithuania will no longer be able to take the theoretical part of their exams in Russian – instead, they will have to choose Lithuanian or one of the languages of the European Union.
Former Minister of Internal Affairs Agne Bilotaitė signed an order in December 2024, which stipulated that from the 1st of January, 2025, it would be possible to take the theory test only in the official language of Lithuanian or another EU country. Thus, despite protests, the possibility of taking the exam in Russian was excluded. However, with the change of cabinet, Bilotaitė’s successor Vladislav Kondratovič postponed the entry into force of the order for a year. He justified the decision by the need to give more time to driving schools and agencies.
As the time approaches when the exam in Russian will no longer be possible, the Ministry of Transport and Communications confirmed that no further postponement is planned and the changes will come into effect. Currently, the exam can still be taken in Lithuanian, English and Russian.
Some driving schools have indicated that the ban is unnecessary and reported that there has been no significant increase in the number of clients before the order comes into force. Edvardas Jogėla, head of the driving school Laukininkų VM, said that the ban on taking the exam in Russian seems exaggerated, since
the most important thing in this case is driving skills, not language.
Valdas Šlepikas, director of the driving school ARV-Auto, said that the school receives about 40 Russian-speaking clients every month. He noted that there may be a small influx of clients who want to take the exam in Russian while there is such an opportunity, but there are not many of them.
The Ministry of the Interior informed that the Lithuanian state agency Regitra will continue to offer the opportunity to take exams in English, and it is planned to add exams in Spanish, French and Polish – these versions are currently being tested so that they can be added to the system. Meanwhile, those taking the driving exam can use an interpreter.
In 2024, theoretical exams for obtaining a driver’s license in Russian were taken 13,378 times, or 9.7% of the total number of exams.
Read the full article in English here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2763293/lithuania-to-end-russian-language-driving-license-exams-in-2026-despite-mixed-reactions
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