Defense companies may see staff deferrals cut from 100% to 85%

Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture wants to limit how many defence company employees can be deferred from mobilisation. Ihor Fedirko, CEO of the Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry (UCDI), reported this, citing his own sources.

According to Fedirko, the Ministry of Economy proposes capping deferrals at “no more than 85%” for defence industry enterprises the Ministry of Defence has designated as critically important to the economy’s functioning. Fedirko writes that a draft resolution with these changes has already been sent to the Ministry of Defence for approval.

The UCDI believes that introducing such changes without consulting industry representatives is unacceptable. By the union’s estimate, defence industry workers make up no more than 10% of all deferred personnel in the country, yet the army’s supplies depend on the work of these very people.

Fedirko added that the industry will not support any restriction on deferring defence industry employees, whether to 85%, 90%, or even 95%.

Yaroslav Filimonov, CEO of EW systems manufacturer Kvertus, reminded in a Facebook post that it was the Ministry of Economy that defended 100% deferrals for the defence industry in 2024, because “stability of weapons output was a priority.” “What has changed? Does the army no longer need as much weaponry? Our orders and a queue months ahead say the opposite,” Filimonov argues.

He stresses that his company plans to scale up production and localise component manufacturing. “On top of the need to hire new people, there is now a risk of losing those who already work here,” writes the Kvertus CEO.