Lawmakers want to charge 20,000 UAH for each reserved employee

This was stated by Dmytro Natalukha, chair of the parliamentary committee on economic development, at the congress “Public finance system reform – the path to Ukraine's recovery,” organized with the support of CIPE.

“In the form of the IT business, Ukraine is losing foreign currency earnings due to a drop in demand from foreign customers for the services of Ukrainian IT specialists. Simply because, in making their choice, a foreign client is guided by the fact that if you hire a Ukrainian team, there is always a risk that part of that team will suddenly be mobilized. So they choose less risky options – Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Indian and so on. And because we cannot give businesses predictability, we are losing currency,” said Dmytro Natalukha, reports FinClub.

According to him, economic reservation is not about “saving someone personally.” “It is about giving businesses predictability so that they keep operating and paying taxes,” Dmytro Natalukha said.

The possibility of economic reservation from 20,000 UAH for each reserved person is being discussed in parliament. “An initiative is being developed in parliament on reservation through payment of a monthly military levy of 20,000 UAH per month for each reserved person,” Dmytro Natalukha said. This refers to an additional payment of the military levy in that amount.

That is on a par with the average salary in the country: the Work.ua portal shows an average salary of 19,000 UAH, and the minimum pay of a serviceman who is not carrying out a combat order is 20,100 UAH. “These three figures give an average of 20,000 UAH,” he said.

An alternative option is being prepared in the Cabinet of Ministers – reservation of workers who officially earn more than 35,000 UAH. “There is a parallel model being developed in the Cabinet, being developed in the Office of the President. It provides for the reservation of workers who receive a minimum salary of 35,000 UAH. And automatic reservation is envisaged for them,” he said.

Khrystyna Venhryniak, director of the Software Ukraine Association, drew attention to the fact that the IT sector is not tied to a specific territory and therefore needs incentives to develop in Ukraine. “It is very important for the IT business to nevertheless resolve the issue of mobilization, the possibility of reservation and short-term business trips,” she noted.

In 2023, the IT industry showed its first decline in 13 years (by 8%). “One of the reasons is that only 1–1.5% of all IT specialists in the country are reserved in the Ukrainian IT industry. This is fundamentally important for us. We are an export-oriented industry,” says Mariia Shevchuk, executive director of the IT Ukraine Association.

“Work on the reservation system is under way. I hope the system will start working soon,” added Oleksii Sobolev, Deputy Minister of Economy.