On October 23, 2026, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 1328, by which it once again rewrote the rules for determining critically important enterprises. It has been in effect since October 27. This time the changes are deeper than usual: it is not the value of individual thresholds that has changed, but the very logic by which the state decides whom to consider critical.
We analyzed the text of the resolution, and on November 5 we participated in a working meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. In the article, we distinguish what is already explicitly stated in the provision and what is currently only the position of officials.
First of all, attention should be paid to the new wording of paragraph 4 of the Criteria and Procedure approved by Resolution No. 76. Previously, it mostly allocated powers between bodies. Now it establishes an additional condition of criticality.
The enterprise must justify that the termination or significant reduction of its activities due to the mobilization of employees will cause harm to at least one of four areas: defense capability, critical infrastructure, livelihood of the population, or macro-financial stability of the state. The norm explicitly requires that this be confirmed by "verifiable indicators."
In addition, the activity must belong to one of the designated sectors. Among them are the defense industry, fuel and energy sector, housing and utilities, extractive and processing industry, agro-industrial production, retail trade, construction, transport and logistics, IT, banking, healthcare, and communications. Humanitarian and emergency rescue activities are mentioned separately. The list is not closed: other sectors may be approved by the Coordination Center, but only upon the request of the relevant ministry. Businesses themselves cannot apply to the center.
Paragraph 4 does not cancel the general criteria. The enterprise must still meet at least three criteria of Resolution No. 76 (with the stipulated exceptions), and the condition of paragraph 4 is added to them.
The resolution does not specify how this should look in practice; there is no single form for the justification. At the meeting, the representative of the Ministry of Economy formulated it as follows: specific figures are needed, and the more details, the better. For a manufacturer, this means production volumes, contracts, and its place in supply chains. For a company servicing infrastructure, it means the number of facilities and operators that depend on its work. The phrase "we operate stably and pay taxes" will no longer work.
At the same time, when an enterprise meets all the defined criteria, but it can be refused because of "insufficient harm," which no one measures, the authority acquires excessively broad discretion. From the standpoint of the principle of legal certainty, this is a problem: businesses must understand in advance what requirements they need to meet.
A Coordination Center for the Organization of Reservation has been established by a resolution. It does not make decisions on criticality but provides recommendations to the body to which the application is submitted. However, practically everyone will have to go through it.
Under the new wording of paragraph 6 of the Criteria, the procedure is now as follows:
There is no "silent consent": if the center delays consideration, the status will not appear automatically.
At the same time, in case of refusal, the state body to which the enterprise submitted the application (the relevant ministry, another central executive body, or a regional or Kyiv city military administration) is obliged to notify the enterprise by letter with justification of non-compliance with the criteria. How detailed the reasons of the center itself will be remains an open question.
The resolution gave the authorities ten days to review and approve sectoral and regional criteria. For those who already have the status, one distinction is of key importance.
If the criterion is excluded, the decision adopted on its basis is subject to annulment. This is directly provided for by the transitional provisions.
If the criterion has been changed, for example the threshold has been raised, this is not yet an exception. The consequences depend on the new wording and on the position of the authority.
The status under the nationwide criteria of Resolution No. 76 does not affect the revision of sectoral criteria, and existing decisions remain in force until the end of their term. There is no need to automatically resubmit under Resolution No. 1328, but it is worth checking on the basis of which specific criterion you received the status.
The meeting also announced changes to the Ministry of Economy's criteria: a likely tightening of the salary requirement and a review of the criterion for activity in three or more regions. For now, these are only intentions, not regulations.
For Diia City residents, Resolution No. 1328 did not introduce significant changes. The special residency criterion remained, as did the requirements regarding the absence of tax debt and the level of the average salary. The IT sector is explicitly named in paragraph 4, so residents do not face any question of belonging to the sector.
The norm does not establish a separate justification of "harm" for residents, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation did not voice such a requirement at the meeting. Companies that already have the status do not currently need to take additional actions in connection with the adoption of Resolution No. 1328, since Decisions determining residents as critically important remain in force until the end of the period specified in them.
For the future, until the next submission, we recommend having on hand data on paid taxes and the single social contribution, income from services, and valid contracts with clients. Residents already generate this information as part of Diia.City reporting, so preparing it will not require additional effort. At the meeting, the position was also voiced that reservation should apply to actually employed specialists, so it is advisable to formalize key specialists under employment contracts.
The overall quota of 50% has not changed. For designated categories of the defense industry and energy sector, up to 95% is provided, and anything beyond that is approved through the center. Separate rules apply to enterprises critical to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so it is incorrect to speak of "95% for the entire defense industry."
If, after personnel changes, the quota is exceeded, clause 9-2 of the Reservation Procedure obliges the manager to submit, within ten working days, through Diia, an application to cancel the excess reservation. Failure to comply with the quota may become grounds for revoking the status. The Ministry of Economy stated at the meeting that it will check Diia data regularly. Even though this is not yet a norm, we recommend appointing a person in the company responsible for the quota and checking it after every dismissal.
Separately check the validity period of the increased quotas of the Ministry of Defense. This is a separate decision, and it may expire earlier than the criticality itself. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy explained that decisions on increasing quotas issued without specifying a term are valid until December 8, 2026.
Thus, if the status already exists, find out on what basis it was obtained and when it expires, as well as the deadlines for increased quotas. A repeat submission taking into account the new stage at the Coordination Center should begin to be prepared two to three months in advance.
If you don't have the status yet, start with an honest answer to the question: what will realistically suffer if your people are mobilized, and how will you prove it. Gathering documents to meet the criteria is not difficult. The hardest part now is a convincing justification under item 4, and that is exactly where you should allocate the most time.