Ukraine's government preparing tighter mobilisation deferment rules, MP says
Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak reports that the Cabinet of Ministers is drafting amendments to wartime deferment rules that would cut reservation quotas in defence, energy and communal sectors and create a new government Coordination Centre with the power to grant and revoke critical-enterprise status. Two anonymous government sources confirmed the changes were under discussion, and the cabinet could consider them as early as 13 October. Defence Minister Yevheniy Khmara is reported as favouring maximum reservation for defence-industry workers, putting him at odds with the draft's proposed cuts.
Key points
- MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak published the draft amendments on his Telegram channel on Monday, 12 October; the draft was circulated on 9 October.
- Reservation for defence-industry and energy enterprises would fall from 100% to a maximum of 85%; for heat, water and waste services, from 75% to 60%.
- Workers with existing deferments (students, caregivers, fathers of three children) would no longer count toward the 50% reservation base.
- A new 17-person Coordination Centre, including SBU, HUR, foreign-intelligence service and national police representatives, would decide which enterprises qualify as critically important and could revoke that status.
- The draft reportedly sets no timelines, criteria or appeal mechanism for the Centre's decisions, and no public consultations are planned.
- Defence Minister Yevheniy Khmara says the ministry supports maximum deferment for defence-industry workers.
- As of September, approximately 1.4 million people were booked from mobilisation in Ukraine, with the largest share in manufacturing.
Why it matters
The changes would tighten wartime deferment rules in sectors the government considers critical — defence, energy and communal services — and concentrate decisions about who counts as essential in a new body staffed by security and intelligence services. Because the draft reportedly lacks timelines, criteria and an appeal mechanism for that body, and because no public consultations are planned, the practical scope of who can be exempted from mobilisation is being narrowed and recentralised at the same time.
What happened
On 12 October, People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Holos faction), first deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada's finance committee, posted on Telegram that the Cabinet of Ministers was preparing amendments to the resolution governing the booking of conscripts during mobilisation and wartime. He said the draft had been circulated on 9 October and that his own sources had confirmed its authenticity. Two anonymous government sources told the outlet that the changes were genuinely under discussion and could be considered at a cabinet meeting on the morning of 13 October.
The draft would reduce reservation quotas across several sectors. Enterprises in defence industry and energy would see their eligible share cut from 100% to a maximum of 85%; communal-sector enterprises (heat, water, waste) would move from 75% to 60%. Workers who already hold personal deferments — students, caregivers and fathers of three children — would no longer be counted in the base used to calculate the 50% reservation cap, which mechanically reduces the number of reserved slots available to each enterprise. The draft does not address previously granted bookings.
A central new feature is a 17-person Coordination Centre under the government, including representatives of the SBU, the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), the Foreign Intelligence Service and the National Police. Under the draft, only enterprises recommended by the Centre could receive critical-enterprise status, and the Centre would also have the power to revoke that status. The draft reportedly contains no timelines, criteria or appeal procedure for those decisions. All ministries and regional state administrations are to review sectoral criticality criteria by 20 October. The changes would reduce the overall number of booked workers, against a backdrop in which roughly 1.4 million people were booked from mobilisation as of September, with the largest share in manufacturing.
Where reporting differs
Defence Minister Yevheniy Khmara is reported as saying the Defence Ministry supports maximum deferment from mobilisation for defence-industry workers, a position at odds with the draft's proposal to cut reservation in that sector from 100% to a maximum of 85%. The disagreement is reported by NV.
Background
Ukraine's wartime framework allows certain categories of workers — including those at enterprises designated as critically important — to receive deferment from military mobilisation. As of September, around 1.4 million people were booked from mobilisation, with manufacturing accounting for the largest share of reserved workers.