New rules for reservation from mobilization are being prepared in Ukraine: who may be affected by the changes

Ukraine plans to revise the rules for reserving military personnel. The government intends to tighten control over enterprises that use the status of critical to obtain deferrals from mobilization. At the same time, the changes should not affect enterprises that ensure the defense capability and vital activity of the state.

This was stated by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Koretsky in an interview with BBC Ukraine.

Why did the government decide to revise the rules for reserving military personnel

According to the head of government, over the past six to eight months, tens of thousands of new reservations for mobilization have been made in Ukraine every month.

This trend is of concern to the authorities, as it may lead to a significant reduction in the mobilization resource necessary to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the current mechanisms need to be revised due to possible abuses by individual enterprises.

In particular, these are cases when the status of a critical enterprise is used to reserve employees whose activities are not directly related to meeting the critical needs of the state.

Who may lose reservations

The government plans to focus primarily on enterprises that formally meet the criticality criteria, but actually use this status to obtain deferrals from mobilization.

At the same time, the automatic cancellation of all current reservations has not been announced.

According to Serhiy Koretsky, the main task of the changes is to eliminate abuse, while preserving the possibility of reservations for employees who are truly necessary for the functioning of the state.

The updated criteria are planned to be formed taking into account two main areas:

The defense capability of the state – ensuring the needs of the Defense Forces, defense production and other strategically important areas.

The country’s life support – stable operation of enterprises and services on which the functioning of critical infrastructure and the economy depends.

A specific list of categories of employees who may lose reservations has not yet been made public.

Which enterprises should not be affected by the changes

The Prime Minister assured that the government does not plan to radically change the working conditions of enterprises that are of real strategic importance for the state.

In particular, this concerns enterprises of the defense-industrial and energy complexes.

For such industries, the preservation of qualified employees is a necessary condition for continuous activity, especially under martial law.

At the same time, the final list of criteria and the procedure for their application will be determined after the approval of the relevant regulatory amendments.

When will the new reservation rules come into effect

On October 13, the government considered a draft resolution on updating the mechanism for booking military personnel.

The document also provides for the creation of a special Coordination Center, which should help streamline the relevant procedures.

After discussions with representatives of parliament and business, it was decided to finalize the project.

According to Serhiy Koretsky, the government expects to complete the preparation of the updated mechanism by the end of this week.

Important: as of October 20, this is about preparing changes, not about the entry into force of the new rules. Until the official adoption and entry into force of the relevant regulatory act, the current provisions of the legislation on the reservation of military conscripts are in effect.

What this means for employees and employers

The planned changes may primarily affect enterprises whose critical status is questionable.

Employers should monitor the official decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers, as the new criteria may require additional confirmation of the enterprise’s compliance with the established requirements.

It is important for employees to consider that the announcement of the revision of the rules does not automatically cancel the already issued deferral.