The Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) has appealed to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi to urgently intervene in the situation on reserving of agricultural workers. The farmers emphasize that due to technical problems and bureaucratic delays, most enterprises may not be able to reserve workers by February 28, 2025.

“At your request, in the fall of 2024, the rules for reserving employees of enterprises that are critical to meeting the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, the functioning of the economy and the life of the population during a special period were revised,” is mentioned the statement.

However, in practice, the reserving procedure is delayed due to technical difficulties and failures in state electronic registers. In particular, a hacker attack on December 19, 2024, actually stopped the processing of applications for a month, and their consideration resumed only on January 20, 2025.

“Currently, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is considering several thousand applications from agricultural enterprises. Therefore, despite the considerable efforts of the Ministry's employees, there is a huge risk that most enterprises will not be able to reserve workers by February 28, 2025, despite meeting the approved criteria for recognition as critical," the association emphasized.

The UAC also notes that their appeal to the government dated February 5, 2025, with a request to solve the problem remained unanswered.

“The Government has not taken any actions to resolve the problem,” the farmers emphasized.

In this regard, the UAC calls on the President to “intervene in the situation and ensure that the Government extends the deadline for reserving workers until March 31, 2025.”

The farmers emphasize that the stable operation of the sector is “key to Ukraine's food security in times of war” and hope for the President's support in resolving this critical issue.

“We count on your support and prompt response, dear Volodymyr Oleksandrovych, to prevent disruption of the spring sowing campaign, ensure Ukraine's food security in times of war, and stabilize the working conditions of the agricultural sector, which is one of the key sectors for our country,” is mentioned in the statement.