Enterprise Criticality Through a Ministry of Economy Grant.

How to obtain the status of a critically important enterprise through a state grant for the establishment, development, or modernization of manufacturing enterprises in the processing industry — and which requirements are easy to overlook

Companies seeking the status of a critically important enterprise most often focus on Diia.City or defense procurement. But there is another workable route that is discussed much less: the criterion of receiving state financial support in the form of a grant for the establishment, development, or modernization of manufacturing enterprises in the processing industry. The program is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, and the practical steps and documentary confirmations are carried out in accordance with the procedure established by this program, in particular through an authorized bank. Let us examine how this route works in practice and which details companies most often stumble over.

What the grant criterion is and who it is suitable for

Among the criteria by which the Ministry of Economy determines enterprises to be critically important for the functioning of the economy is the receipt of state financial support in the form of a grant for the establishment, development, or modernization of manufacturing enterprises in the processing industry — under the program approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 739 of 24.06.2022. It is primarily suitable for manufacturing companies that have already received a grant or plan to receive one.

Why one grant is not enough

The main mistake made by companies considering this route is treating the fact of receiving a grant as a self-sufficient basis for criticality status.

This is not the case.

The criteria approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 76 of 27.01.2023 are built on the principle of “three or more out of eight”: for an enterprise to be recognized as critically important for the functioning of the economy, it must simultaneously meet at least three of the indicators listed in the resolution. A grant is only one of them.

In practice, two more indicators are used together with the grant: the absence of arrears in the payment of taxes, fees, and the unified social contribution as of the date of submission of the application, and compliance with the indicator of the average salary of insured persons. Both must be confirmed by separate documents, and neither arises automatically together with the grant.

Two salary thresholds that are easy to confuse

The salary criterion is most often a source of mistakes because, in practice, there is not one such indicator, but two — and they are regulated by different provisions.

The first is the threshold for the average salary across the entire enterprise. This is one of the mandatory criteria for obtaining criticality status itself. It is calculated for all insured persons — the company’s employees — and not only for those whom the enterprise plans to reserve.

The second is the individual salary level of each specific reserved employee. This requirement applies throughout the entire reservation period and does not depend on the average indicator for the company.

Compliance with one requirement does not automatically satisfy the other. A company may raise the salaries of the employees it plans to reserve to the required individual level — and at the same time fail to meet the requirement for the average salary across the entire staff if the rest of the personnel receive significantly lower salaries.

How many employees may be reserved

Separately, the reservation limit should be taken into account: as a general rule, the number of reserved employees may not exceed 50 percent of the total number of military-liable employees on the enterprise’s staff, although exceptions are established for certain categories of enterprises. This means that before submitting an application, it is worth calculating how many military-liable employees are actually on the staff — the number of people the company will be able to reserve after obtaining the status depends on this figure.

What to check before submitting

—  whether the grant criterion has in fact been met — confirmed by all necessary documents from the authorized bank;

—  whether there is an up-to-date certificate confirming the absence of tax debt as of the date of submission;

—  whether tax reporting for the latest tax period has been filed;

—  whether the average salary across all insured personnel of the enterprise has been calculated, and not only for part of the employees;

—  whether the individual salary threshold has been calculated separately for each employee planned to be reserved;

—  whether the actual number of military-liable persons on the staff is known — and whether the planned number of reservations falls within the overall 50 percent limit;

—  whether the enterprise meets at least three criteria simultaneously, rather than only one.

Legal support for criticality through a grant

The route to obtaining criticality through the Ministry of Economy’s grant criterion is entirely real, but it requires attention to details that at first glance may seem merely formal. We support companies at each of these stages — from verifying compliance with the criteria to preparing the full set of documents and submitting the application to the Ministry of Economy.

If your company is considering obtaining criticality through a Ministry of Economy grant, arrange a consultation: hello@digilaw.pro