The Ministry of Economy and Environment of Ukraine has prepared a draft act on the transition period, which provides for the automatic extension until February 1, 2027, of the criticality status for enterprises whose status is set to expire in November–December 2026.
As noted in the ministry’s explanatory statement published on Thursday, this decision is intended to ensure the uninterrupted operation of businesses amid the phased transition to the reservation rules updated on October 27. To date, 90% of government agencies, including all ministries and regional military administrations, have already revised their sector-specific criteria, and the Coordination Center approved them at two meetings within the established 10-day deadline, while the remaining agencies received proposals for further refinement.
In addition, by November 10, enterprises in the fuel and energy and defense-industrial sectors were required to bring their reservation volumes into compliance with the 95% quota, while mandatorily reserving seats for specialists involved in production processes and emergency repair work; and failure to meet the quota for more than 10 working days constitutes grounds for revoking critical status.
To renew or obtain critical status, enterprises must submit documents to central executive authorities (CEAs) and regional military administrations (RMAs) two to three months before the status expires; however, in addition to the basic criteria, two additional conditions must now be met. Specifically, the employer must provide justification that suspending the enterprise’s operations would harm national defense capabilities, the population’s livelihood, the operation of critical infrastructure facilities, or the country’s macrofinancial stability.
The enterprise itself must operate in one of the 13 designated critical sectors, which include the defense-industrial complex, the energy sector, emergency rescue services, the extractive and processing industries, construction, agricultural production and food security, transportation and logistics, IT, telecommunications, banking, healthcare, and retail. If necessary, this list may be expanded upon the recommendation of the relevant authority and in consultation with the Coordination Center.
As previously reported, on October 23, the Cabinet of Ministers, through Resolution No. 1328, updated the deferment system by separating criticality status from economic indicators, reducing the quota for the energy sector and the defense industry to 95%, and establishing the Coordination Center for the Organization of Deferments for Conscripts, whose first meeting took place on November 7.
At the same time, business representatives had previously emphasized the need for adaptive solutions. In particular, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine advocated for extending the validity of current decisions, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Representatives of the restaurant industry and the National Restaurant Association of Ukraine (NRAU) reported an acute labor shortage and emphasized that small businesses and food service establishments are effectively denied access to general conscription mechanisms, even though the loss of even a single employee due to demanding work schedules threatens to force establishments to close.
Source: https://www.kmu.gov.ua/news/onovleni-pravyla-broniuvannia-kliuchovi-etapy-ta-stroky
BUSINESS, criticality, ENTERPRISE, MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, reservation
