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The changes introduced in June 2026 to the rules governing employee reservation and the criteria for determining critically important enterprises became one of the most widely discussed issues for Ukrainian IT businesses in 2026. Companies were required to retain their critically important status, while government authorities had to update the relevant criteria for granting this status.
Experts from EBS examined the practical application of the updated rules and their experience of working with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Particular attention was paid to the procedures for confirming critically important status, documentary requirements, quota calculations and the extension of employee reservations.
To confirm and retain critically important status, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine introduced two mechanisms: a full procedure and a simplified procedure.
The full procedure required companies to submit documents to obtain a new order designating them as critically important enterprises where the criteria on which their status had previously been granted had changed. If the application was approved, the company received critically important status for a new period and could continue reserving employees on the basis of the new order.
The simplified procedure applied where the criteria on which the company had previously obtained critically important status remained unchanged. It did not establish a new validity period for the status, but instead allowed the company to confirm its compliance with the applicable requirements within the validity period of the existing order.
At the same time, the Ministry of Digital Transformation changed both its approach to confirming compliance and the criteria themselves. One of the most notable changes was the revision of the list of documents companies must provide to demonstrate compliance with specific sectoral criteria.
Where certificates or information letters had previously been sufficient in many cases, preference is now given to documents whose information can be verified against tax returns or through electronic systems. These include tax invoices, receipts from the Unified Register of Tax Invoices (URTI), documents signed with a qualified electronic signature (QES), and tax reporting. In addition, for certain criteria, the Ministry of Digital Transformation has narrowed the range of companies entitled to rely on them, including excluding Diia City residents from Criterion 11 of the relevant ministerial order.
At the level of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 76, additional requirements have also been introduced for Diia City residents. Regardless of the grounds on which a company obtained its resident status, it must now confirm that the average monthly remuneration of its employees and gig specialists over the previous six months was at least EUR 1,200. The primary supporting document is the consolidated reporting on the single social contribution (SSC) and personal income tax (PIT). Companies may also provide a statement confirming the monthly remuneration of employees and gig specialists.
The requirements for start-ups seeking critically important status are even more stringent. In addition to confirming income of EUR 20,000 during the first three months of residency, they must demonstrate that the monthly remuneration of specialists from the date of obtaining Diia City residency until the date of application — but for no more than the previous six months — was at least EUR 1,200.
In practice, the outcome of an application largely depends on the quality of the supporting documents. Before submitting an application, companies should therefore check:
Companies should also ensure that the date of the covering letter matches the date on which the QES was applied and that all attachments have been properly prepared and signed. Once the documents have been verified, it is equally important to correctly determine the number of employees to which the reservation quota applies.
When determining the number of military-liable employees to whom the reservation quota applies, the following are not included:
A separate rule applies to employees who work for several employers simultaneously. If an individual works for two critically important enterprises, they are counted for quota calculation purposes by only one employer — generally, the employer with whom they have had the longer employment relationship.
At the same time, the following are included in the calculation:
Once the relevant pool of employees has been determined, the general rule applies: the reservation quota is 50% of their number, and the resulting figure is not rounded up. For example, if nine military-liable employees remain in the calculation after applying all relevant rules, the quota will be four employees rather than five.
Incorrectly determining which employees should or should not be included in the calculation can lead to an inaccurate quota and subsequent problems with employee reservation.
Correctly calculating the quota must be accompanied by selecting the appropriate reservation procedure. Initial reservation and the extension of an existing reservation are different mechanisms, which companies often confuse in practice.
If an employee does not have a valid reservation, the initial reservation procedure applies. Processing the application may take up to 72 hours.
If, however, the enterprise has confirmed its critically important status in a timely manner and the employee’s existing reservation remains valid, the company may use the procedure for extending the reservation for a new period. In this case, the employee’s deferral does not lapse and is automatically extended once the application has been processed.
Compliance with the deadlines for confirming critically important status is therefore often decisive in determining whether a company can use the simplified extension mechanism.
Effective management of employee reservations also depends on keeping military registration data up to date. New electronic interaction capabilities with the Register of Persons Liable for Military Service simplify the process of managing employee lists.
In particular, companies can:
The data update function is particularly useful, as it allows companies to promptly add employees to or remove them from relevant lists and avoid delays when preparing lists for employee reservation.
Current practice demonstrates that successfully retaining critically important status depends not only on meeting the statutory criteria, but also on the proper organisation of internal processes. Companies should regularly monitor changes to the employee reservation framework, ensure compliance with applicable quotas, verify remuneration-related requirements and prepare supporting documents well in advance.
This approach can help minimise the risk of losing critically important status and prevent disruptions to employee reservation.
To learn more, watch the recording of the ITU Legal Talks webinar featuring Tetyana Prychepa, Managing Lawyer and Attorney at EBS, and Yehor Ovseichyk, Lawyer at EBS, on “Critical Enterprises and Employee Reservations”:
