The Ministry of Economy has changed the criteria for booking employees: what is known

Businesses that want to receive critical status and reserve their employees will have to meet new requirements. The Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture has revised the criteria for such status and made them stricter.

This is stated in the Ministry’s Order No. 6954 of June 24, 2026.

The new rules apply to businesses operating in areas under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy. They are the ones who can claim the status of being important to the national economy, which is necessary for reserving military personnel.

Agricultural enterprises will feel the most changes. If earlier it was enough to cultivate 500 hectares of land, now the minimum area is 1,000 hectares. The required annual income has also doubled – from 20 to 40 million hryvnias.

In addition, some of the criteria that were previously in effect for farmers have been abolished. For example, the amount of personal income tax paid or ownership of another critically important enterprise will no longer be taken into account. Instead, it is now mandatory to confirm your figures with tax documents.

The rules for forestry enterprises have also changed. The minimum land area has been increased fivefold – from 500 to 2,500 hectares. At the same time, the required number of employees has been reduced from 15 to 10, but now the enterprise must also show annual income of at least 10 million hryvnias.

Another innovation concerns salaries. From now on, for large companies with more than 50 employees, the average salary must be at least twice the national average. For companies with 20 or more employees, this requirement is even stricter – the salary must be at least three times the average.

The Ministry of Economy also clarified the requirements for companies operating in three or more regions at once. They must have at least ten employees and pay at least 24,000 hryvnias in taxes and social security contributions in each region over the past three months.

At the same time, other criteria that were in effect before remained unchanged. In particular, the status of important for the economy can still be obtained by enterprises that have state grants, work under contracts with the Ministry of Economy, or are participants in industrial parks.