From early 2025, Ukraine is introducing new employee exemption rules for critically important enterprises. The aim of these changes is to ensure economic resilience under martial law, support strategic industries, and align with national security needs. However, the business community has raised concerns about possible delays in the process of re-confirming criticality status.
Key changes in the booking procedure:
1. Re-confirmation of critical enterprise status:
- By 28 February 2025, all enterprises applying for this status must re-confirm it under the new requirements.
- Criteria include: an average salary of at least 2.5 times the minimum wage (UAH 20,000), no tax arrears, and compliance with at least one sectoral or regional standard.
2. Electronic application via the Diia portal:
- From 1 December 2024, employee exemption applications will only be accepted online via Diia.
3. Flexible industry quotas:
- Enterprises in the fuel-energy and defence-industrial complexes can exempt up to 100% of their employees.
- Other enterprises have a 50% quota, with exceptions for certain categories (e.g., conscripted women, company beneficiaries).
Transition period:
- Current exemptions remain valid until the end of February 2025.
Specific requirements for Odesa region
The Odesa Regional Military Administration has introduced additional criteria for recognising critical enterprisesin the region. To obtain this status, companies must meet at least two criteria from the Military Administration directive No. 1300/A-2024, dated 30 December 2024.
For the infrastructure and maritime transport sectors, key criteria include:
- At least five military and 100+ tonnes of humanitarian cargo shipments in the past six months.
- Transportation of 250+ military personnel in six months.
- Regular passenger transport services under three or more contracts.
- Cargo handling exceeding 250,000 tonnes per year.
- Investments in port infrastructure of at least UAH 10 million.
For the agricultural sector, companies must meet at least three criteria:
- Farming land of at least 15 hectares of perennial crops, 25 hectares of vegetables, or 100 hectares of other crops.
- Staff of 15+ employees.
- Primary business activity in agricultural production or processing (according to industry classification codes).
- Supply of at least 75 tonnes of perennial crops, 250 tonnes of vegetables, or 500 tonnes of milk.
Critical industrial and trade enterprises must meet at least two criteria:
- Payment of UAH 4 million+ in local taxes.
- Workforce of over 100 employees.
- Supply of goods or services for military or critical economic needs (at least five contracts).
- Foreign trade with exports exceeding 25% of production.
- Average salary of UAH 30,000+.
- Employment of at least 5% veterans, combatants, or persons with disabilities due to Russian military aggression.
Additional criteria have been set for the housing and utilities, healthcare, construction, and education sectors. In total, criticality criteria have been established for 15 industries, and full details are available in the official directive.
Business community response
The European Business Association and regional businesses urge the government and local authorities to maintain an open dialogue to ensure transparency and efficiency in implementing the updated rules. Given that Odesa is a key transport hub, industrial centre, and agricultural powerhouse, local enterprises express particular concerns about the timeliness and transparency of exemption procedures.
Businesses stress the need for regular updates to the criteria, reflecting real challenges and regional specifics, such as the importance of port infrastructure, seasonality in agriculture, and the strategic significance of energy and transport enterprises.
As a solution, business representatives propose introducing a transparent monitoring and feedback system between authorities and enterprises to refine exemption mechanisms.
Reference: application processing under the new procedure
Applications are submitted via the Diia portal, with regional administration units and industry experts processing requests. Decisions are made by regional commissions, including representatives from the Security Service of Ukraine, tax authorities, territorial defence forces, and other agencies. Once approved, enterprise data is entered into the registry via Diia for further employee exemptions.
