Defense Ministry: 14% of defense industry enterprises failed to confirm critical status but can reapply

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has completed a review of decisions made before July 7 regarding the classification of defense industrial complex enterprises as critically important, reported on Saturday. As of September 1, 86% of these enterprises confirmed their status and their ability to reserve draft-eligible employees in line with legislation.

However, 14% of the enterprises did not confirm their critical status. These enterprises can reapply by submitting a full package of documents to the Ministry of Defense in accordance with the current procedure. The review deadline for confirming their critical status was August 10. A simplified procedure was available for most enterprises, eliminating the need to resubmit a full package of documents.

This provision applied to contractors and subcontractors of defense contracts whose defense activity accounted for more than 50% of total production volume, residents of Defence City, individual manufacturers of explosives and ammunition, and OPK, aviation, and space industry enterprises that previously received a critical status based on a combination of criteria.

To retain key specialists, the Ministry emphasized the importance of the criticality mechanism operating clearly and helping enterprises retain teams crucial for meeting the needs of the Defense Forces. The Ministry also highlighted the recent operationalization of an online mechanism for updating military registration data via the Diia portal, replacing the manual submission of employee lists in paper form prior to this update.