Koretskyi: defence industry to retain critical status, but maximum employee deferral quota will fall below 100%

The Ukrainian government has finalised changes to the employee reservation system, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi announced on the evening of 23 October.

He said critical status would remain for sectors that make a tangible contribution to defence and the economy, including the defence industry, energy, communications, logistics, and utilities.

“Nothing will change for them. At the same time, sectoral and regional criteria for critical status will be updated and checked for abuse,” Korenetskyi said.

However, the prime minister noted that the maximum employee deferral quota for defence industry companies would no longer be 100%. In his view, unconditional full reservation is unfair to those serving in the military and creates opportunities for abuse.

“At the same time, we will not undermine the work of those manufacturing weapons or maintaining critical infrastructure,” the prime minister added. “If uninterrupted operations require a higher deferral quota, a company will be able to submit a reasoned request to the Coordination Centre.”

Koretskyi also said the government was developing a mechanism for 100% employee deferral for companies that meet their mobilisation obligations. Under the proposed system, a company would be able to reserve all its employees if it regularly and voluntarily arranged for some of them to enter military service.

“It is essential that people know where they are going and for how long. Their jobs and salaries will be retained,” the government said.

The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Economy will work with businesses to develop the mechanism. Korenetskyi said the government aimed to approve a transparent and effective system by 1 December.