Risk of staff shortage: agrarians call on the government to extend the reservation of workers
7 February 11:40
Agrarian associations have appealed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine to extend the deadline for obtaining criticality status and booking employees in the agro-industrial complex (AIC) until March 31, 2025. A statement to this effect was published by the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), according to
“Over the past few days, a huge number of farmers have been contacting all member organizations of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum (AUAF), without exception, about the formation of long queues for criticality status and expressing concerns about the impossibility of completing the process of booking employees on time,” the statement said.
As a reminder, in the fall of 2024, the rules for booking employees of enterprises that are critical to meeting the needs of the Armed Forces and the functioning of the economy and ensuring the livelihoods of the population were revised. In particular, it was a question of revising the criteria for determining enterprises as critical and extending the reservation of employees of critical enterprises under the old rules for one month, but no longer than February 28, 2025.
“The agricultural community calls for the extension of the deadline for obtaining the criticality status by agricultural business entities until March 31, 2025, and to extend the validity of previous decisions on employee reservation accordingly,” the statement says.
Why does the agricultural sector need to extend the reservation?
Currently, agricultural enterprises wishing to book their employees must first receive a decision from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on compliance with the established criteria. Only then can they apply for personnel reservation in accordance with the current procedure.
The UCAB stressed that during a meeting with representatives of industry associations and NGOs on December 16, 2024, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported technical problems that could slow down the procedure for obtaining the status of a critical enterprise and booking its employees.
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Consequences of the cyberattack: what is the threat to the agricultural sector?
Additional difficulties were caused by a hacker attack on state registries on December 19, 2024. The disruption of information systems made it much more difficult to obtain and confirm criticality status, as well as to book employees.
According to representatives of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum (AAF), in recent days there has been a significant increase in the number of applications from farmers who face long queues to obtain criticality status. Market participants are concerned about the inability to complete the booking procedure within the established timeframe.
Who supported the initiative?
In addition to UCAB, the government was addressed with a corresponding appeal by:
- Agrarian Union of Ukraine;
- All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council;
- Association “Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine”;
- Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation;
- Association of Milk Producers;
- Association of Pig Producers of Ukraine;
- National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine.
At the end of December, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine approved new sectoral criteria for determining enterprises that are important for the national economy in the agricultural sector during a special period.
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The following criteria are used to determine such enterprises:
1. The company cultivates agricultural land on an area of at least 500 hectares for agricultural activities, or is economically active with an annual income of at least UAH 20 million, or the amount of personal income tax paid for the previous reporting quarter is at least UAH 324 thousand.
2. The main activity of the company (as of 18.05.2024) is one of the CEAs specified in the relevant order of the Ministry No. 4282;
3. The enterprise is managed by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy or the Ministry of Agrarian Policy manages the corporate rights of the state in the authorized capital of which;
4. 100% of the shares (stakes) in the authorized capital of which belong to the state, which was formed through the transformation of a state-owned enterprise and carries out activities on subleasing state-owned land plots at land auctions.
It is also worth recalling that, as reported on February 24
The Ministry of Defense emphasized the day before that not everyone will be extended the mobilization reservation, but only those who had it valid as of December 19.
That is, if an employee’s reservation expired on December 20, 2024, it will be automatically extended until January 20, 2025. If the reservation was completed before December 19, i.e. before the cyberattack, employers will be able to renew it after the registers are restored.
Deputy Minister of Defense Kateryna Chernogorenko assured that by December 27, all persons liable for military service who see their reservations for the Reserve and fall under the Resolution will have their reservations automatically extended.
