The Cabinet of Ministers on 27 October updated the rules for booking employees at enterprises considered critically important for the economy and the country’s functioning, the Ministry of Economy reports.
Agreement on sectoral criteria
To date, 90% of state bodies, including all ministries and regional military administrations, have reviewed the sectoral criteria for determining critically important enterprises. This stage aims to standardise approaches to classifying businesses into the relevant categories.
The review of criteria was carried out using agreed sectoral indicators, after which state registration of the updated acts will be provided. The agreed criteria will form the basis for the next stages of transition to the new rules.
State registration and entry into force
The next stage provides for state registration of the relevant regulatory legal acts by the profile state authorities and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Up to five working days are allotted for this procedure.
After state registration, the updated criteria will enter into force, which will trigger mechanisms for reviewing statuses and applying the new booking rules. Until registration begins, the previous norms will remain in effect, including temporary provisions.
Status reviews and scheduled confirmation
State authorities will revoke the critical-status designation from companies that obtained it under invalid criteria, but such enterprises may immediately submit a new application on current grounds. For enterprises whose criteria have not changed, documents should be submitted to central executive authorities (ЦОВВ) and regional military administrations (ОВА) 2-3 months before the expiry of the critical-status term.
It is now insufficient to meet only basic financial or sectoral indicators to obtain or routinely extend a status. If necessary, the list of areas requiring confirmation may be expanded at the request of the relevant central executive authority (ЦОВВ) or regional military administration (ОВА), agreed with the Coordination Centre.
Quota adjustment and transition period
The government has established that enterprises of the fuel and energy complex (ПЕК) and the defence-industrial complex (ОПК) must align their booking volumes with a 95% quota by 10 November 2026. At the same time, it is mandatory to retain booking for specialists involved in production processes and emergency recovery work.
Failure to meet the designated quota for more than 10 working days may be grounds for cancelling the critical-status designation. A draft act has also been prepared regarding the transition period: statuses whose terms expire in November-December 2026 will be automatically extended until 1 February 2027.
