Critical status of the company: key aspects

In this article, we propose to review the latest changes and key aspects of the procedure for obtaining and confirming the critical enterprise status.

The deadline for confirming the critical status has been extended until March 31, 2025

As known, companies that have previously received criticality status had to confirm it by the end of February 2025. However, many companies did not have time to confirm this status, so the business community asked the government to postpone the deadline for confirming criticality.

Thus, on February 25, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU) decided to extend the transition period for companies that had not yet confirmed the relevant status. Pursuant to CMU Resolution No. 208, the deadline for confirming the criticality status has been extended until March 31, 2025.

At the same time, the Government has extended the existing reservations for employees of the respective companies until 31 March 2025.

It is worth reminding that without confirmation of the company’s critical status, the employer will not be able to retain key specialists in its team, as in case of loss of such status, the reservations will also be canceled.

What criteria must be met to obtain/confirm critical enterprise status?

A company can obtain/confirm critical enterprise status  if it meets the criteria set out in CMU Resolution No. 76.

The government has defined eight criteria, and in order to obtain/confirm critical enterprise status , at least three of these criteria must be met, two of which are mandatory.

The company must confirm its compliance with the two mandatory criteria, namely:

• no tax and unified social contribution arrears;
• the amount of  average salary of employees for the last calendar month must be not lower than the minimum wage in the country multiplied by a coefficient of 2.5 (currently – UAH 20,000). Please note that significant changes have been made to this criterion. Previously, the last quarter was required to be taken into account when calculating the average salary.. However, from now on, this calculation should be based on the data of the last calendar month.

In addition to the above, the company must also meet one of the following criteria:

• the total amount of taxes paid during the reporting tax year exceeds the equivalent of EUR 1.5 million;
• the amount of foreign currency receipts for the reporting tax year exceeds the equivalent of EUR 32 million;
• the company is of strategic importance for the economy and security of the state according to the established list;
• the company is important for a sector of the national economy or for meeting the needs of a territorial community (hereinafter referred to as sectoral criteria). It should be noted that sectoral criteria are set by specialized authorities or state administrations (military administrations). For example, the criteria for IT companies are determined by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, for agricultural companies – by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, etc;
• the company is a resident of Diia.City;
• the company is a provider of electronic communications services with the corresponding  level of income.

Procedure for submitting an application for obtaining/confirming the critical status

First of all, it is necessary to assess the company’s compliance with the criteria set out in CMU Resolution No. 76.

The next step is to submit an application to the relevant authority or state administration (military administration) with the appropriate justification and a package of documents confirming that the company meets at least three criteria.

The following documents must be attached to such an application:

• a certificate of the average salary in the company;
• a certificate confirming the absence of tax arrears or an extract from the information system of the State Tax Service on the status of the taxpayer’s settlements with the budget and trust funds, certified by the company’s director;
• a document confirming compliance with another criterion, for example, an order granting the status of a Diia.City resident or documents confirming that the company meets industry criteria;
• a document confirming that the company has filed tax reports for the last tax period.

Upon receipt of the application, the authorized body checks the documents and assesses whether the company meets the established criteria. Formally, the deadline for reviewing documents is up to 10 business days from the date of receipt of the application. However, due to the large number of applications, the process can take longer in practice, so documents should be submitted in advance.

In case of a positive decision, the company is included in the Unified List of Authorities, Enterprises and Organizations authorized to reserve military personnel. From that moment on, the company has the ability to reserve employees through the Diia portal.

If the company  does not met the criteria,  the critical status will be denied. However, in this case, reapplying with corrected deficiencies is allowed.It is important to note that a company that granted a critical status must confirm this status at least once a year. For confirmation, the company submits to the body that made the decision to designate such a company as a critical company a relevant application with the documents listed above.

In addition, the authority that granted the critical status periodically monitors the activities of such companies from time to time and may conduct an audit of compliance with the criteria. 

If non-compliance with the criteria is found, the authority will revoke the previously granted critical status. Please note that after revocation, such status may be obtained again no earlier than 6 months later.

Thus, in order to obtain the critical status, a company must properly prepare a package of documents and, after obtaining such status, maintain compliance with the criteria. roper assessment of compliance with the criteria at the initial stage and preparation of a complete package of necessary documents will help to avoid delays in the consideration of the application and successfully confirm the status of a critical enterprise.

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