NAPC identifies corruption risks in new mobilization deferral rules

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAPC) has concluded that the new rules for reserving enterprise workers from mobilization, proposed by the Cabinet of Ministers, carry high corruption risks.

This was reported in his Telegram channel by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of parliament from the Holos faction.

The NAPC prepared a conclusion on the Ministry of Economy’s draft on reservations and put forward a number of specific objections. The first concerns a provision under which workers with a deferral from service are not counted when calculating the number of reserved employees. The agency believes this provision should be removed, as it will reduce the number of available reservations at enterprises.

The second objection relates to the creation of a new Coordination Center, which is to determine the critical importance status of enterprises. The NAPC points out that the draft does not establish rules for this body’s operation, timelines for reviewing applications, or grounds for refusal — which, in the agency’s assessment, creates preconditions for corrupt practices.

The third objection concerns the non-binding nature of the Coordination Center’s recommendations. The NAPC warns that this could give rise to a contradiction: the center may recommend stripping an enterprise of its critical importance status, yet the ministry is entitled to ignore such a recommendation. As a result, the decision to revoke the status would be left to a official’s discretion. To prevent such a situation, the agency insists that the center’s recommendations be made binding.

The NAPC’s conclusions are advisory in nature. The agency’s review was conducted on October 12, but the very next day the Cabinet approved the resolution.

Previously, a lawyer quoted by the publication had warned that the changes to the reservation procedure could significantly reduce the number of reserved workers.