On February 13, 2025, the Fuel and Energy Business Association submitted an official request to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, urging the extension of current employee reservations for critically important enterprises and the postponement of the deadline for updating critical status until April 30, 2025.
Recently, the Association has received numerous appeals from fuel and energy sector enterprises facing difficulties in obtaining or confirming their critical status.
The main reasons include:
- Overloaded government agencies. A backlog of applications has formed at the Ministry of Energy, with processing times significantly exceeding the designated 10 working days.
- Consequences of a cyberattack. Following the breach of state registries in December 2024, the process of updating critical status was temporarily halted, leading to an additional accumulation of applications.
- Shortage of qualified specialists. A lack of personnel in government agencies complicates the timely review of documents.
If the reservation period is not extended, there is a risk that by February 28, 2025, government agencies will not be able to process all applications, and critically important enterprises may lose the ability to reserve their employees. This, in turn, could lead to a workforce shortage, negatively affecting the stability of the fuel and energy sector.
The Fuel and Energy Business Association calls on the Government to extend the validity of current reservations and push the critical status update deadline forward by two months.
This will:
- Reduce the burden on government agencies and ensure the thorough review of applications.
- Prevent critical workforce losses at strategic enterprises.
- Support the stable operation of the fuel and energy sector, which is the foundation of Ukraine’s economic security.
Amid the challenges facing the country today, effective cooperation between the state and businesses is key to economic stability and energy security.