The Cabinet of Ministers established a Coordination Center and amended the rules for reserving employees
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine established a Coordination Center for the organization of exemptions for those subject to military service, clarified the definition of critical enterprises, and directed a review of sectoral and regional criteria. The government also updated the maximum exemption quotas for certain categories of enterprises.
The decision is intended to ensure a balance between the needs of the Armed Forces and the stable functioning of the economy, critical infrastructure, and enterprises on which the population’s livelihood depends.
The basic principle of the reservation system remains unchanged: enterprises must retain employees without whom they cannot perform functions that are critically important to the state.
The Coordination Center is a temporary consultative and advisory body of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Representatives of government agencies responsible for the economy, defense, security, humanitarian policy, and the operation of critical infrastructure will be involved in its work.
The Deputy Minister of Economy and Environment and the Deputy Minister of Defense have been appointed as co-chairs of the center.
Among the main tasks of the new body are:
- harmonizing sectoral and regional criteria for criticality and providing recommendations for their refinement;
- reviewing requests from government agencies regarding the designation of enterprises as critical;
- providing recommendations on revoking the status of a critical enterprise, particularly when there are relevant grounds provided by law enforcement agencies;
- approving increases in reservation volumes exceeding 50%.
The Regulations on the Coordination Center also specify the procedures and timeframes for reviewing requests.
The standard timeframe for reviewing a request shall not exceed one month. If there is a justified need for urgent consideration, a government agency may submit a corresponding request. In such a case, the Center must provide proposals and recommendations no later than seven business days from the date of receipt of the request.
At the same time, decisions on granting enterprises the status of “critically important” remain within the jurisdiction of authorized state bodies. The Coordination Center’s proposals will be reviewed by central executive authorities and regional military administrations.
The Ministry of Economy noted that previously, increases in the number of conscripts reserved for military service were approved by an interagency working group headed by the Minister of Defense. Sectoral and regional criteria for critical importance were established by government agencies in consultation with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy.
The government has now clarified the definition of critical enterprises.
Central executive authorities and regional military administrations must review the sectoral and regional criteria within 10 days after the relevant changes take effect. The updated criteria will be coordinated with the Coordination Center.
The ministry emphasizes that revising the criteria is a standard procedure that authorities carry out regularly. It does not imply an automatic review of the status of every enterprise previously designated as critical.
Enterprises recognized as critical based on criteria that remain unchanged following the review will retain their status. According to the Ministry of Economy’s assessment, such enterprises are expected to constitute the vast majority.
The government has also revised the maximum reservation limits for enterprises in the fuel and energy sector and the defense-industrial complex. For these categories of enterprises, the maximum reservation limit will be up to 95% of employees subject to military service.
These figures define the permissible reservation limits for the respective categories of enterprises.
The Ministry of Economy noted that the reduction in reservation limits should not apply to critically important personnel. Employees who are directly involved in production processes, the fulfillment of defense contracts, and operational, repair, and emergency restoration work must be fully exempted.
The enterprise’s director independently determines who to reserve within the established limit. Therefore, the changes primarily affect support and service personnel.
The Ministry of Economy also clarified that citizens who have a deferral from mobilization for other reasons are taken into account when calculating the maximum percentage of reserved employees.
This includes, in particular, parents of large families, guardians, and other categories of citizens who have legal grounds for deferment.
Thus, the government’s changes provide for the creation of a new coordinating body, the updating of criticality criteria, and the adjustment of reservation limits for specific industries. At the same time, companies will continue to be able to retain employees necessary for the uninterrupted operation of critical production facilities and infrastructure.
This was reported by the Ministry of Economy and Environment of Ukraine.
Previously, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi stated that the ability to exempt 100% of employees from mobilization creates conditions for abuse. According to him, some companies may exempt their entire workforce, even if some employees do not actually perform critical tasks. The government is working on changes to the exemption system, but the final rules have not yet been published.
Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi stated that the government will review the criteria for determining critically important enterprises, and 100% exemption will no longer be automatic, even for the energy and defense industries.
