Harvest is approaching in Ukraine: will the problems with postponement of military services for workers affect the agricultural sector?

The UAC Deputy Chairman Denys Marchuk spoke about the current situation in the industry and the need for changes in the economic booking procedure:

‘The situation with workers is difficult. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, people from rural areas who worked at agricultural enterprises were mobilized. When we talk about the possibility of postponement of military services for workers, this is the fifth time when the mobilization process has affected agricultural enterprises. The postponement is issued every six months. This situation has happened four times in the 2.5 years of war. In fact, there is no one to be postponed from military service, the human resource is running out. This was a key topic of discussion at the UAC General Meeting held last week. This is currently one of the main issues for communication and cooperation with the government and the Verkhovna Rada.’

The postponement of military service process needs to be accelerated to one day for better organization of work at agricultural enterprises.

‘It is extremely important for us to introduce an electronic mechanism on this issue. The relevant resolution has already been developed but not yet adopted. This will greatly simplify approaches to mobilization. Currently, the process takes a month or two. Given that the legislation has been amended to transfer functions from the General Staff to the Ministry of Defence, a new department will be created there. Organizational issues will take some time. In fact, the agricultural sector is being thrown out of the work schedule, and it is difficult to count on employees in such circumstances. But with the new booking process, it can be reduced to one day, which will allow us to plan economic activities, including the use of labour,’ said the Deputy Chairman of the UAC.