The government has finalized changes to the employee reservation system, including a review of the criteria used to designate critical enterprises and an end to unconditional 100% reservation. The new mechanism is expected to be approved by December 1, while full reservation will be allowed only if a company fulfills a mobilization commitment.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Serhii Koretskyi, announced this.
According to him, an enterprise’s critical status will be separated from its economic indicators. Critical sectors should include those directly supporting defense and the economy, such as the defense industry, energy, communications, logistics, utilities and others.
In principle, nothing will change for such enterprises, but sectoral and regional criteria for critical status will be revised and checked for possible abuse.
The government also plans to abolish unconditional 100% reservation, including for energy and defense industry enterprises.
“Unconditional full reservation is unfair to those who serve and creates room for abuse. There were companies created specifically for reservation, and it became a business,” the statement said.
At the same time, enterprises that need to reserve more employees to ensure uninterrupted operations will be able to submit a justified request to the Coordination Center.
The Ministry of Defense is also expected to strengthen responsibility for evading military service.
Another change is a mechanism allowing 100% reservation if a company fulfills a mobilization commitment. An enterprise will be able to reserve all of its employees if it regularly and voluntarily sends part of its workforce into military service.
At the same time, each person should know in advance where they will serve and for how long. Their job and salary are expected to be preserved.
The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy are to work out the details of this mechanism together with businesses. The government plans to approve it by December 1.
The statement emphasizes that these decisions do not mean an automatic intensification of mobilization in the near future. Their purpose is to bring order to the reservation system, reduce abuse and create clear rules for enterprises and people liable for military service.
