Ukraine's Defence Ministry will not exempt military gear manufacturer's staff from military service

A Ukrainian Ministry of Defence board has found no reason to grant workers at Balistyka, a manufacturer of military clothing, the right to be exempt from mobilisation.

Source: Ukraine’s Defence Ministry in a comment to Ekonomichna Pravda 

Details: The current procedure for determining whether a company has critically important status, which grants the right for its staff to be exempt from military service, is based on criteria approved by the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers.

As of today, Balistyka does not have such status, as the Ministry of Defence has officially responded to the company's representatives.

After evaluating documents supplied by Balistyka, the board for recognising critically important companies has determined that the company does not meet the required criteria.

The main reasons for the refusal were the lack of a state contract with the Ministry of Defence or Ukraine's State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition (DOT), an agreement on a state order as co-executor, and the absence of relevant requests from Armed Forces representatives. Furthermore, the company is not supervised by the Ministry of Defence.

However, the Ministry of Defence did declare that "it highly appreciates the contribution that private defence companies make to protect the state."

In the near future, it is planned to meet with representatives from the defence industry for an open dialogue, clarifying the prerequisites for attaining critically important company status, and facilitating the process of exempting specialist staff from military service to ensure the stable functioning of manufacturing facilities.

The time and location of the meeting will be disclosed later.

Background: Balistyka, a Ukrainian producer of protective equipment for the military, is still unable to obtain exemption from military service for its employees. 

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