Industrial EDI — pharma, rail, forestry, aviation, cosmetics
Latvian industry concentrates on a few highly specialised verticals, partly inherited from the Soviet era and reoriented to export after independence. Olainfarm (pharma, Olaine) and Grindeks (mildronāte / meldonium, famous from the 2016 Sharapova case) dominate pharma. Latvijas dzelzceļš (LDz) runs the railways. Latvijas valsts meži (LVM) the State forests. airBaltic aviation. Tet (ex-Lattelecom) telecom. Madara Cosmetics premium cosmetics. MikroTik network gear. Mixed EDI stack EDIFACT + OFTP2 + PEPPOL.
History — Soviet legacy → niche industries
Soviet-era Latvia hosted a few strategic plants: Olainfarm (pharma chemistry, 1972), Grindeks (1946), VEF (radios, now dismantled), RVR (rail rolling stock). After 1991, most privatised. A few champions emerged: Grindeks and Olainfarm in generic pharma with Eastern European exports, Madara in organic cosmetics, MikroTik in network gear (RouterOS extremely widespread worldwide). EDI layered in progressively from the 2000s under export pressure.
Governance — fragmented by vertical
No single EDI authority in Latvia. GS1 Latvija registers GLNs. Pharma FMD is run by the Latvian Medicines Verification Organisation (LMVO), connected to the EU EMVO Hub. Rail is overseen by Satiksmes ministrija (Ministry of Transport). Civil aviation reports to the Civil Aviation Agency and in practice airBaltic. Forestry LVM is supervised by the agriculture ministry.
Schemas by vertical
# Latvian industrial verticals — EDI stack
PHARMA — Olainfarm (Olaine) + Grindeks (mildronāte)
Messages: ORDERS, DESADV, INVOIC, MEDPID (product catalogue)
Standard: EANCOM 2002 + GS1 Healthcare GS1 SmartSearch
Transport: AS2 to wholesalers (Tamro, Magnum Medical, Recipe Plus)
Compliance: FMD (Falsified Medicines Directive) serialisation
RAIL — Latvijas dzelzceļš LDz (state)
Messages: IFTMIN, IFTSTA (freight), CODECO (container)
Standard: legacy EDIFACT D.96A + UN/EDIFACT rail
Transport: OFTP2 to Riga / Liepaja / Ventspils ports
Interconnect: ÖBB, LG (Lithuania), EVR (Estonia), legacy RŽD
FORESTRY — Latvijas valsts meži (LVM, state)
Messages: business XML papINFO + private sawmills
Standard: papiNet (pulp/paper/wood) + local variants
Transport: SFTP + AS2
AVIATION — airBaltic
Messages: IATA Cargo — Cargo-IMP, Cargo-XML
Transport: SITA, AS2
Tickets/cargo via Sabre + Amadeus GDS
TELECOM — Lattelecom (legacy) / Tet (current brand)
Messages: INVOIC EDIFACT + B2B XML invoice
PEPPOL BIS 3.0 for key accounts
NETWORK — MikroTik (Riga, network gear)
Supplier EDI (components from Taiwan, Asia)
Partial X12 ANSI + EDIFACT on some corridors
COSMETICS — Madara Cosmetics
EDI with European distributors (Galeries Lafayette, Sephora)
EANCOM 2002 cosmetics + DESADV palletComparison — EU industrial EDI
| Country | Champions | Dominant standard | Pharma stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latvia | Grindeks, Olainfarm | EDIFACT + OFTP2 + PEPPOL | FMD + EANCOM 2002 |
| Estonia | Bolt, Skype legacy, Tallink | X-Road + EDIFACT | FMD + EANCOM |
| Lithuania | Achema, Grigeo, Linas Agro | EDIFACT + OFTP2 | FMD + EANCOM |
| Finland | Nokia, Kone, Wärtsilä, Stora Enso | OFTP2 + ENX + Finvoice | FMD + Finvoice |
| Germany | Bayer, BMW, Siemens, BASF | OFTP2 + ENX | FMD + EDIFACT |
Adoption — sector coverage
- Pharma: ~100% EDI mandatory between Grindeks / Olainfarm and EU wholesalers. Mandatory FMD serialisation since 9 February 2019 (covers nearly all Rx).
- Rail: LDz handles ~40Mt/year of freight (2024 figures). All container flows are EDIFACT IFTMIN + CODECO via the ports of Riga and Ventspils.
- Forestry: Latvijas valsts meži manages ~1.6M ha (half of Latvia's forests). papiNet EDI with main sawmills (Latvijas Finieris, Stora Enso).
- Aviation: airBaltic ~5M passengers/year. Cargo-XML for freight, Sabre / Amadeus GDS for tickets.
- Telecom + network: Tet, MikroTik integrate B2B EDI invoicing (PEPPOL shift underway 2025-2026).
Common pitfalls
- Confusing Lattelecom and Tet. Lattelecom is the historical name, rebranded Tet in 2019. Old EDI contracts still use Lattelecom as partner ID — must be mapped.
- FMD serialisation through the LMVO hub. Every Rx box sold in Latvia must be declared to the National Medicines Verification System (LMVO), which forwards to the EU EMVO Hub. INVOIC alone is not enough — a dispense-time scan is required.
- OFTP2 vs AS2 depending on partner. Rail and legacy pharma flows are OFTP2 (ENX-like, ODETTE certificate). Retail / cosmetics flows are AS2. Identify before onboarding.
- Wrong IATA code for airBaltic Cargo. BT is the passenger IATA code, but airBaltic's Cargo prefix differs. Confusing them breaks AWB routing.
- Assuming everything moves to PEPPOL in 2026. The B2B eRēķins mandate covers invoices only. ORDERS, DESADV, IFTMIN, papiNet stay in EDIFACT / business XML — no replacement.