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Updated criteria from Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, transition deadlines, salary requirements, quotas and a practical algorithm
In 2026, the procedure for determining critical enterprise status and reserving conscription-eligible employees has undergone a series of changes affecting the criteria for confirming status, the procedure for retaining it, and the subsequent reservation of employees. For IT companies, this means that critical status now depends on ongoing compliance with salary, tax and sector-specific requirements, up-to-date information in state registers, and adherence to the established quota.
The key changes were introduced by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 692 of 30 May 2026, Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 862 of 1 July 2026, which set out the transitional mechanisms and status confirmation procedure, and Order of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine No. 127 of 23 June 2026, which updated the sector-specific criteria for the digitalisation field.
The timing of implementation matters just as much as the new indicators themselves. Some requirements are already in effect, others will take effect from 1 September, and a transitional mechanism with a deadline of 10 August 2026 is provided for certain enterprises.
The updates can be broadly divided into four blocks.
The first block concerns salary requirements.
For most private enterprises, the average accrued salary of employees for the last calendar month must be at least three minimum wages, which currently stands at UAH 25,941. For IT enterprises, the average monthly remuneration over the last six months must be at least the equivalent of EUR 1,200.
It is worth noting that this refers not to the minimum salary of each individual employee, but to the average figure across the enterprise’s insured employees.
One of the most common mistakes is conflating the enterprise-level salary criterion with the individual salary requirement for a reserved employee. Currently, the monthly salary of each reserved employee must be at least 2.5 times the minimum wage — UAH 21,617.50. However, from 1 September 2026, this coefficient will increase to 3, bringing it to UAH 25,941.
The second block concerns the revision of sector-specific and regional criteria.
Ministries, other authorised bodies and regional military administrations have revised the criteria under which an enterprise may confirm or obtain critical status for its sector or territorial community.
An important update is that if the criterion on which a company previously obtained its status has been removed, the status is subject to cancellation. Where the criterion remains unchanged, a simplified transitional confirmation mechanism applies.
The third block concerns new rules for counting employees with second jobs and those with other types of deferrals.
Conscription-eligible employees who have been granted a deferral for other reasons, as well as employees holding a second job at another critical enterprise, are now counted towards the total number of conscription-eligible employees at only one employer — the one with which the employment relationship has lasted the longest.
The fourth block concerns tighter quota controls.
One of the new practical risks for critical enterprises is the need to continuously monitor the actual reservation quota. If the number of reserved employees exceeds the permitted limit, the head of the enterprise must, within ten working days, submit an application via the Diia portal to cancel the reservation of the relevant number of employees. Ignoring such an excess risks the loss of critical status.
The update to the criticality rules does not automatically result in the loss of status for enterprises that already held valid decisions recognising them as critical. The legislator has provided for a transition period, during which companies can retain the effect of previous decisions provided they meet additional requirements and confirm certain indicators.
For criticality decisions valid as of 2 June 2026, the basic transitional rule provides that they remain in effect for their original term, but no later than 1 September 2026.
At the same time, Resolution No. 862 has allowed certain enterprises to retain their decision for the entire term for which it was originally granted. To do so, documents confirming compliance with the average salary criterion — which for most private companies is no less than UAH 25,941 — must be submitted to the body that granted critical status by 10 August 2026.
At the same time, the simplified mechanism does not apply to enterprises whose status is subject to cancellation due to the removal of the sector-specific or regional criterion on which the previous decision was based. Such companies must undergo full confirmation against the current criteria.
Therefore, before submitting documents, it is important to determine which category the enterprise falls into: whether it is sufficient to submit an abridged package to retain existing status, or whether it needs to reconfirm compliance with all current criteria.
IT companies wishing to confirm or obtain critical status need to bear in mind that they must meet at least three criteria under Resolution No. 76.
Most companies choose the following: ● no outstanding tax debt to the state and local budgets, or unified social contribution debt ● average accrued employee salary for the last calendar month of no less than UAH 25,941 ● a third criterion, which may be another general criterion under Resolution No. 76 — such as Diia City resident status — or compliance with a sector-specific criterion under the Ministry’s Order, at the company’s choice
For IT companies in 2026, there are effectively two routes to confirming critical status:
Choosing the right route matters not only at the document submission stage, but also for the subsequent ability to reserve employees.
Option 1: enterprises using the “general” criteria
In this case, the company must confirm both the absence of tax debt at all levels and compliance with the salary indicator.
The third criterion for an IT company may be either Diia City resident status or other financial and economic indicators, including taxes and duties paid exceeding EUR 1.5 million, foreign currency earnings exceeding EUR 32 million, or others.
For Diia City residents, assessment covers not only the fact of operating in the digital technology field, but also compliance with the statutory requirements of this special legal regime. In particular, the average monthly employee remuneration over the last six months must meet the equivalent of EUR 1,200.
Residents seeking to obtain resident status under start-up terms are subject to additional documentary requirements. Depending on the situation, this may involve an initial compliance report together with documents on income, royalties, grants or investments totalling no less than the equivalent of EUR 20,000, or an annual compliance report together with an independent auditor’s opinion.
Option 2: enterprises using the Ministry of Digital Transformation’s sector-specific criteria
The company confirms the absence of tax debt, an average salary at the level of three minimum wages, and compliance with one of the criteria under Order No. 127. In this case, the sector-specific criterion confirms the enterprise’s importance to the digitalisation field and counts as the third criterion under Resolution No. 76.
The sector-specific criterion does not replace the two mandatory general requirements. In other words, compliance with Order No. 127 alone does not entitle a company to critical enterprise status.
It is also important to note that a company’s affiliation with the IT sector must be confirmed not only through its statutory documents or KVED codes. For example, a company may hold an activity code linked to software development, but if its actual documentation does not demonstrate the delivery of IT projects, the authority may raise questions about the real nature of its activities.
Order No. 127 came into force on 3 July 2026 and updated the previous criteria set out in Order No. 182. The document sets out 18 criteria covering electronic communications, data centres, cloud services, electronic trust services, state information systems, digital infrastructure, defence innovation and other areas.
Each company should select the criterion that best reflects the nature of its activities. It is important for a company not simply to pick any criterion from the list, but to identify the one that most accurately matches its actual business activity. Choosing the wrong criterion, or attempting to confirm activity using only formal indicators, may lead to additional requests or the need to resubmit documents.
For traditional IT companies engaged in software development, IT services or digital product creation that do not hold Diia City resident status, applying criterion 11 of Order No. 127 is generally the most practical approach.
This criterion requires that three conditions be met simultaneously:
These indicators are confirmed by enterprise certificates and tax calculations for the relevant quarter. Having the appropriate KVED code alone does not prove that IT activity is actually being carried out. It is therefore advisable to include contracts, acts, technical descriptions, project materials and other documents demonstrating the real substance of the company’s services or product in the package.
Criterion 11 of Order No. 127 is specifically aimed at companies confirming their importance to the digital sector without relying on special Diia City resident status.
The document package should be built on the principle: one declared criterion — one dedicated body of evidence.
The core part of the package usually includes an application setting out the company’s position, a description of compliance with the criteria, and a request to determine or confirm status. In addition, tax reporting documents and documents confirming the third general or sector-specific criterion should not be overlooked.
Accordingly, before preparing documents, a company must first determine which submission route to take. The right choice of criterion at the outset largely determines the completeness of the document package and the outcome of the review.
A decision on critical status is only a precondition for reserving employees. Once status has been obtained or confirmed, the authorised body must add the company to the Unified Register of Enterprises, Institutions and Organisations for the reservation of conscription-eligible employees.
The subsequent algorithm is as follows:
According to the Diia portal, applications from critical companies are processed within three days. If an employee does not appear in the system, or the system shows an incorrect number of conscription-eligible employees, the cause is often outdated information on employment relationships held by the Pension Fund or the Register of Conscription-Eligible Persons.
It is also important to remember that, as a general rule, a critical enterprise may reserve up to 50 per cent of the conscription-eligible employees counted towards the limit calculation. A different or increased limit may be set for certain categories of enterprises.
In summary, the updated criticality and reservation rules require IT companies to maintain comprehensive and ongoing control over compliance with the established requirements. A critical status decision alone is not sufficient. Companies must regularly review salary indicators, tax reporting, compliance with the chosen criteria, the reservation quota, and the accuracy of employee data held in state registers.
A systematic internal audit of documents, salary indicators, personnel data and the available limit will help reduce the risk of refusal, loss of critical enterprise status, or cancellation of employee reservations.
