The government has changed the criteria for the status of critical enterprises, which will also affect the agricultural business

The government has amended Resolution No. 76 of January 27, 2023, which establishes the procedure for granting the status of a critical enterprise and determines the procedure for reserving employees. The new criteria will also apply to agricultural enterprises, said Anatoliy Kosovan, managing partner of the law firm Kosovan Legal Group.

Agribusiness, which has not yet had time to confirm its status as a critical enterprise, will now face the following changes:

• The most critical is the increase in the area of land cultivated by the agricultural company. From now on, to obtain critical status, this indicator increases from 500 to 1,000 hectares.
• Economically active companies will now be considered those with an annual revenue of at least UAH 40 million, instead of UAH 20 million as was the case before. This criterion will most affect grain traders, which usually received criticality according to the economic activity indicator.
• The criterion of the amount of personal income tax paid for the previous reporting quarter is being abolished. This will primarily affect companies with a large number of employees who do not cultivate the land and do not have significant income, in particular grain elevators.

Some changes have affected certain niches. For example, companies that wholesale agricultural machinery and equipment will need to submit a registration notification to the State Service for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, and bioethanol producers will be required to additionally submit a license for the right to produce it.

The new budget also increased the minimum wage, while many people do not understand that the minimum average wage at the enterprise, as a criterion for criticality, and the minimum salary of reserved persons were not established by law at a fixed amount of UAH 20,000, but were determined as 2.5 minimum wages.

Therefore, both those who have the status of a critical enterprise and those who have reserved persons should adhere to these criteria in their activities: from January 1, 2026 - UAH 21,617.50.

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the loss of critical status for the next 6 months.