How IT Companies Can Preserve Criticality After the New Changes

In the summer of 2026, the rules for determining enterprises as critically important and for reserving employees changed significantly.

First, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 692 of 30 May 2026, which initiated a review of previously granted criticality statuses and updated a number of criteria. On 1 July, the Government adopted Resolution No. 862, which clarified the transitional rules and provided a simplified mechanism for preserving existing decisions.

For IT companies, these changes mean that several issues now need to be checked at once:

• what happens to the existing criticality decision;
• whether to undergo the full procedure or use the simplified procedure;
• whether a Diia.City resident meets the new remuneration requirement of EUR 1,200;
• how employees with other deferments and part-time workers are counted after 3 July;
• whether the company has exceeded the reservation quota.

Let us consider each issue separately.

What happens to existing criticality decisions

Resolution No. 692 introduced a transitional rule: decisions on designating enterprises as critically important that were valid as of 2 June 2026 remain valid for the period for which they were adopted, but no longer than until 1 September 2026.

In other words, even if the order states that the company’s status is valid, for example, until December 2026, under the original version of the amendments, without additional action it would have ceased to be valid on 1 September.

Resolution No. 862 partially resolved this issue. It allowed enterprises, under certain conditions, to preserve the existing decision until the original date specified in it.

Therefore, the company now effectively has two scenarios:

1. to undergo full re-confirmation of criticality and obtain a new decision;
2. to use the simplified mechanism and preserve the existing decision until the end of its original term.

These procedures have different consequences, so the option should be chosen taking into account the term of the existing status, the readiness of documents, and actual compliance with the new criteria.

Option 1. Full re-confirmation of criticality

Under the full procedure, the enterprise prepares a new application and an up-to-date set of documents confirming compliance with the criteria as of the date of submission.

For IT companies, the typical package includes confirmation of:

• absence of tax arrears;
• average accrued salary at a level of not less than three minimum wages;
• Diia.City residency with compliance with the additional remuneration requirement or with another sectoral criterion of the Ministry of Digital Transformation;
• the number of liable-to-military-service employees as of the date of application;
• other indicators and documents depending on the criteria chosen by the company.

The result of the procedure should be a new decision designating the enterprise as critically important. The term of reservation associated with it for the relevant category of employees may not exceed 12 months.

However, a full submission means a new review of the documents. The company must not merely resubmit the old package, but must verify its compliance with the rules in force on the date of the new application.

The new requirement for Diia.City residents: EUR 1,200 for six months

Previously, to use Diia.City residency as one of the criticality criteria, it was sufficient to confirm the status of resident itself and compliance with other general conditions. For startups, of course, there was also an additional requirement to confirm activity.

Now this is not enough.

To fully confirm criticality, a Diia.City resident must provide tax reports confirming that the average monthly remuneration of employees and gig specialists was at least the hryvnia equivalent of EUR 1,200 over the last six calendar months.

The indicator is checked separately for each month

EUR 1,200 is not an average figure for the entire six-month period.

The requirement must be met separately in each of the six calendar months. Therefore, a higher remuneration in one month does not compensate for a lower figure in another.

For example, if the company submits documents in July 2026, it must provide tax reports for:

• January;
• February;
• March;
• April;
• May;
• June 2026.

Each of these reports must separately confirm compliance with the required indicator.

The hryvnia equivalent of EUR 1,200 is determined at the official exchange rate of the National Bank of Ukraine as of the first day of the relevant calendar month. Employees and gig specialists are included in the calculation.

What this means for new residents and startups

The new requirement creates a practical limitation for companies that have recently become Diia.City residents.

If the enterprise does not yet have tax reporting for six calendar months with the required level of remuneration, it will not be able to confirm this criterion until the relevant reporting period has accumulated.

This applies not only to ordinary residents, but also to startups. The special conditions of Diia.City residency do not in themselves exempt a startup from the new six-month requirement for the purposes of criticality.

Therefore, before making a full submission, it is advisable to separately check each of the six tax reports. The mere formal existence of Diia.City resident status no longer guarantees compliance with the criterion.

Option 2. Simplified preservation of the existing status

Resolution No. 862 introduced a separate mechanism for enterprises that already have a valid criticality decision.

The company may, by 10 August 2026, submit to the authority that granted it the status:

• a certificate on the amount of accrued average salary of insured employees;
• a tax report on income, personal income tax, military levy, and the unified contribution for the last calendar month.

The documents must confirm that the average accrued salary is not less than three minimum wages — UAH 25,941.

“The last calendar month” should be understood as the last completed month as of the date of submission. If the documents are submitted in July, this will be June. If the submission takes place in August, it will be July.

What the simplified procedure provides

The simplified mechanism does not grant the company a new status for another 12 months.

It only allows the existing decision to continue to be valid until the original date specified in it.

For example, if the order states that the status is valid until 10 December 2026, after completion of the simplified procedure the decision will remain valid until 10 December 2026.

Not until December 2027 and not for another 12 months, but precisely until the already established date.

The simplified procedure may be appropriate if:

• the existing decision remains valid for several more months;
• the company is not yet able to confirm EUR 1,200 for six months;
• the full set of documents is not yet ready;
• the company needs additional time to prepare for full confirmation.

However, before choosing this option, it is necessary to assess whether it really gives the business sufficient time. If the existing decision expires soon, a full submission may be more practical.

Who the simplified procedure will not help

Enterprises whose status is subject to cancellation due to the exclusion of the sectoral or regional criterion on the basis of which they previously obtained criticality will not be able to fully use the simplified mechanism.

In such a case, a salary certificate and a tax report alone are not sufficient.

The company needs to:

• identify the current criterion;
• verify compliance with the new requirements;
• collect the full set of supporting documents;
• submit a new application to the competent authority.

In addition, the resolution does not specify a separate form of decision or notification by which the state authority must confirm preservation of the status until the original date. Therefore, the company should retain confirmation of submission of the entire package and monitor further communication with the relevant authority.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation updated the sectoral criteria

Separately, central executive authorities and military administrations reviewed the sectoral and regional criticality criteria.

For the digitalization sector, the Ministry of Digital Transformation approved a new list of 18 criteria. It entered into force on 3 July 2026.

Therefore, companies that obtained criticality not directly on the basis of Diia.City residency, but under another sectoral criterion, need to check:

• whether this criterion remained in the new list;
• whether its content changed;
• which documents now confirm compliance;
• whether the company meets the requirements as of the date of the new application.

The fact that the enterprise complied with the criterion in 2025 or at the beginning of 2026 does not mean automatic compliance with the new version.

How employees with other deferments and part-time workers are now counted

Another important change concerns the calculation of the total number of liable-to-military-service employees, which determines the reservation limit.

From 3 July 2026, certain employees are counted for quota purposes only at one place of work — with the employer with whom they have been in employment relations the longest.

The rule applies to two separate categories.

1. Employees with another deferment under Article 23

This refers to liable-to-military-service persons who have a deferment not due to reservation, but on another ground provided for by Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine “On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization.”

For example:

• in connection with studies;
• due to health condition;
• in connection with supporting three children;
• on other grounds provided by law.

If such a person works for several employers, for quota purposes they are counted only with the employer where the employment relationship has lasted the longest.

2. Part-time workers in several critically important companies

The second category is employees who simultaneously work at several critically important enterprises or in critically important institutions.

Such an employee is also counted in the quota of only one employer — the one with whom the employment relationship has lasted longer.

It is important that the decisive factor is not the formal status of the main place of work or part-time employment, but the duration of the employment relationship itself.

Practical example

An employee has worked in your company since March 2026, and in another critically important enterprise since January 2024.

For quota calculation, they must be counted with the other enterprise, since the employment relationship with that employer has lasted longer.

For your company, this means that the total number of liable-to-military-service employees, from which the 50% reservation limit is calculated, decreases.

At the same time, the number of already reserved employees does not automatically decrease. This is precisely how an excess over the limit may arise.

What to do if the quota is exceeded

The state authority that granted the company the status of a critically important enterprise may receive information about:

• the total number of liable-to-military-service employees;
• the established reservation limit;
• the number of persons already reserved;
• the number of employees reserved in excess of the limit.

In practice, companies are already receiving letters about a possible quota excess and the need to bring the number of reserved employees into compliance. The reason may be precisely the new rules for accounting for part-time workers and employees with other deferments.

The problem is that such notices do not always specify which persons have ceased to be counted in the total number.

Therefore, the company needs to independently check:

• employees with deferments under Article 23;
• all part-time employees;
• their other places of work;
• whether the second employer has critically important status;
• the start dates of employment relations with each employer;
• the actual quota size after recalculation.

It is not worth waiting for the excess to appear in Diia

By 1 September 2026, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Digital Transformation must ensure electronic interaction between state registers for the full implementation of the new rule. From that date, state authorities must also obtain expanded access to information about critically important enterprises and their reservations through the Diia portal.

However, the absence of information about an excess in the Diia interface does not mean that there is none.

Until full technical interaction is launched, companies in fact need to conduct a personnel audit on their own.

The excess must be eliminated within ten working days

If an enterprise has exceeded the established limit, the head must, within ten working days from the date the excess arose, take measures to bring the reservation into compliance.

The most direct option is to submit an application to cancel the reservation of the required number of employees.

Depending on the circumstances, the company may also eliminate the excess by another lawful means, for example by increasing the number of liable-to-military-service employees who are lawfully counted when determining the quota. However, in such a case it is important to verify the reality of the employment relationships, proper formalization of employees, and correct reflection of the data in the registers.

Ignoring the excess is dangerous. Failure to comply with the established limit directly creates a risk of cancellation of the status of a critically important enterprise. And the loss of status, in turn, is grounds for cancellation of the reservations associated with it.

What IT companies need to do now

The practical algorithm consists of five steps.

Step 1. Check the existing decision

It is necessary to determine:

• when the company obtained the status;
• until what date it formally remains valid;
• under which criteria it was granted;
• whether the relevant sectoral or regional criterion has been excluded.

Step 2. Choose the procedure

The company must decide which scenario suits it:

• full re-confirmation with obtaining a new decision;
• simplified preservation of the existing decision until the original date.

Step 3. Check salary indicators

For the simplified procedure, it is necessary to confirm an average accrued salary of at least UAH 25,941 for the last calendar month.

For a full submission by a Diia.City resident, it is additionally necessary to verify the EUR 1,200 indicator for each of the last six calendar months.

Step 4. Conduct a personnel audit

Separately, it is necessary to check:

• employees with other deferments;
• part-time workers;
• their other places of work;
• the status of other employers;
• the duration of employment relationships;
• the current reservation limit.

Step 5. Do not miss the deadlines

For simplified preservation of the status, the documents must be submitted by 10 August 2026.

If a quota excess has already arisen, the deadline for eliminating it is ten working days from the date the excess arose.

Conclusion

The new rules do not automatically cancel the criticality of IT companies, but they do require active action from businesses.

The main mistake now is to rely only on the date specified in the old order or to wait until the Diia system independently shows all risks.

The company needs to determine the appropriate procedure now, check salary indicators, the relevance of the chosen criterion, and the composition of liable-to-military-service employees.

For Diia.City residents, the key issue is no longer merely the existence of status, but confirmation of EUR 1,200 separately for each of the six months. For companies with part-time workers and employees with other deferments, it is the correct recalculation of the quota.

The Digilaw team supports IT companies at all stages: from checking salary and personnel indicators to preparing the application, confirming criticality, and further reserving employees.

The material is current as of 16 July 2026. Legislation and technical reservation mechanisms continue to change, so the current requirements should be checked again before submitting documents.