Employee reservation under new rules: obtaining the status of a critically important enterprise will become more difficult

The state has tightened the requirements for enterprises seeking to obtain the status of critically important for the economy, along with the right to reserve employees. This is stated in the order of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture No. 6954, which "Judicial and Legal Newspaper" has reviewed.

What has changed for agricultural producers

For agricultural enterprises, the minimum area of cultivated land has been doubled—from 500 to 1000 hectares. The minimum annual income has also doubled: previously, 20 million UAH was sufficient, now at least 40 million UAH is required.

At the same time, two previous conditions have been excluded from the criteria. Now, the payment of personal income tax (PIT) of at least 324 thousand UAH per quarter is no longer considered, and it is no longer possible to obtain the status by owning 90% of the capital of other critically important enterprises.

Instead, a new mandatory requirement has appeared—the submission of a copy of the tax calculation with confirmation from the controlling authority.

Requirements have become stricter for forestry enterprises

The minimum area of permanent use land for forestry enterprises has increased from 500 to 2500 hectares. The alternative criterion regarding the number of insured employees has been softened—from 15 to 10 persons—but it must now be combined with a financial requirement: annual income must be at least 10 million UAH. Previously, there was no such criterion for forestry enterprises.

In addition, hunting, engineering activities, geology, and certain types of educational activities have been excluded from the list of relevant NACE codes.

New salary level requirements

New mandatory criteria have been introduced for the general list of enterprises, which did not exist before:

• for enterprises with more than 50 employees, the average salary must be no less than the national average for the last year multiplied by a factor of 2;
• for enterprises with 20 or more employees, a factor of 3 is applied;
• for permanent establishments of non-residents, a factor of 3 is also established instead of the previous factor of 2.

New conditions for interregional status

For enterprises operating in three or more regions, two mandatory requirements have been defined: a staff of at least 10 employees and payment of taxes and a single social contribution (excluding customs payments) of at least 24 thousand UAH in each of these regions over the last three months.

Enterprises producing Ukrainian-made machinery and equipment can also claim critically important status provided their products are included in the Ministry of Economy's list and are subject to partial budget compensation.

Criteria that remain unchanged

The criteria by which enterprises can be recognized as critically important remain unchanged for those that:

• receive state grants;
• provide services to the Ministry of Economy under contracts lasting at least six months;
• belong to the ministry's management sphere or have the state as the sole founder;
• conduct expertise of regulatory legal acts in the field of economy or foreign economic activity;
• are participants in an industrial park;
• have concluded investment agreements in the fields of processing industry, biogas production, extraction and processing of minerals.

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