Employee reservations will be reviewed with due account of General Staff needs — Koretskyi
In Ukraine, the number of persons liable for military service who have reservations or deferments from mobilization on other grounds significantly exceeds the number of those performing military service. At the same time, the number of new reservations continues to grow rapidly, which became one of the government's arguments in favor of reviewing the current rules.
This was stated by Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi in an interview with BBC Ukraine.
According to the head of government, tens of thousands of Ukrainians receive additional reservations every month. This dynamic has persisted over the past few months.
The Prime Minister warned that if the current pace continues, the system may cover an increasingly larger part of those liable for military service, while the General Staff needs additional people to replenish units and rotate military personnel who have been at the front for a long time.
Koretskyi did not provide exact data on the number of reserved persons, citizens with other deferments, and military personnel in this context.
The government also wants to review the criteria by which enterprises are recognized as critically important. According to the Prime Minister's assessment, the current rules allow individual companies to arrange reservations for employees who do not directly perform tasks important for the defense or life support of the state.
In particular, this refers to cases where enterprises obtain special status, but their actual activities do not correspond to the scale of the registered reservation.
Koretskyi emphasized that high employee salaries, payment of taxes, and absence of tax debt do not always in themselves indicate the critical importance of an enterprise for the state.
At the same time, the Prime Minister assured that the Cabinet of Ministers does not intend to reduce reservations for employees of energy enterprises ahead of the difficult winter period. According to him, the government is aware of the risks that could arise for the operation of critical infrastructure.
Similar guarantees were previously voiced regarding enterprises of the defense-industrial complex, on which the support of the Defense Forces depends.
New reservation quotas not yet approved
As a reminder, on October 13, the Cabinet of Ministers considered amendments to the procedure for reservation of persons liable for military service. According to reports from people's deputies and sources in the Cabinet of Ministers, the government approved the document with further revision, but postponed the final decision on reducing quotas.
Previous proposals provided for reducing the maximum share of reserved employees for defense industry and energy enterprises from 100% to 85%. For certain communal enterprises, a reduction of the quota from 75% to 60% was considered.
These plans drew objections from business and representatives of the defense sector due to the risk of losing qualified specialists.
On October 16, Koretskyi stated in the Verkhovna Rada that the government is refining the resolution, and enterprises that are truly critical for defense and energy will not face radical changes.
At the same time, the Prime Minister did not abandon the intention to review the mechanism of hundred-percent reservation. In an interview with the BBC, he reiterated that it is necessary to eliminate opportunities for abuse while ensuring the needs of the army.
According to Koretskyi, the government expects to complete work on the updated rules within the next week.
As of October 19, the final parameters of the new reservation system have not been published.
