Ukraine to tighten mobilization deferral rules for critical enterprises, PM says

Why it matters

The reform could free up personnel for the Defense Forces at a time when the General Staff says it needs more servicemembers for rotation and replenishment. A proposed cap of 85% (down from 100%) on bookable staff could directly affect more than 900 defense-industrial complex enterprises. The changes target what the government describes as widespread abuse of critical-enterprise status to shield workers from mobilization, and they signal how Kyiv is balancing wartime defense needs with keeping the economy functioning.

What happened

In an interview with BBC News Ukraine published on Monday, October 19, 2026, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky said the Cabinet of Ministers will finalize changes to the conscription deferment (booking) system this week. The changes are intended to combat abuses and make the system fairer, he said, while reassuring that genuinely critical enterprises will continue to book workers as before and that the review targets only cases where critical-enterprise status is used formally to book people not actually engaged in critical work.

Koretsky said the Cabinet is considering lowering the cap on bookable employees from 100% to 85%, a move that could affect more than 900 defense-industrial complex enterprises. He cited two examples of what he called abuse: a hypothetical contracting company of Ukrenergo where 100 of 100 workers were booked but only 20 actually performed the contracted work, and a hypothetical company that produces two drones a year while booking hundreds of employees.

Koretsky framed defense capability and ensuring the vital functioning of the state — not salary levels or tax compliance alone — as the test of criticality. He said the General Staff needs servicemembers to refill and rotate formations, pointing to wounded personnel, missing persons, killed servicemembers, cases of unauthorized departure (СЗЧ), and those who have served for many years and need rotation. He assured that the booking percentage for energy-sector workers will not be changed ahead of what he called the most difficult winter, and did not rule out economic booking in principle while arguing that high wages and no tax debts alone do not make an enterprise critical.

Background

Ukraine's mobilization law allows certain enterprises deemed critical to reserve (book) their employees from conscription; the scheme has been criticized for abuse. On May 30, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed booking of all military-liable employees of enterprises critically important for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and in August 2025 the same possibility was extended to critical enterprises in front-line areas. In May, the Ministry of Economy announced that from July the minimum average salary for critical-status enterprises would rise from 21,618 to 25,941 hryvnias (three minimum wages), and that booking would be possible only at the primary place of work. A document published by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak and reported by Forbes Ukraine on October 12, 2026 showed draft limits reducing booking from 100% to 85% for the defense-industrial complex and energy sector, and from 75% to 60% for housing and communal services. On October 13, the Cabinet did not adopt a final decision and gave five days for revision, while approving a Coordination Center for booking with law-enforcement involvement. In September 2025, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in first reading bill No. 13260, which effectively reinstates criminal liability for unauthorized departure (СЗЧ), though the bill has since stalled.