The Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) has appealed to the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada to support the initiative of “economic reservation” for the agricultural sector. This is necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the country's economy and to retain highly skilled workers who are critical to the operations of enterprises.

In its appeal, the association notes that the stable operation of agro-industrial enterprises is possible only if there are qualified employees and managers who organize and control the work. After all, the agricultural sector generates tens of billions of dollars in revenues to the state and local budgets, which is essential for maintaining the country's defense capability.

The UGA emphasizes that the work of agro-industrial enterprises is impossible without specialists who have knowledge of the technologies, machines and mechanisms necessary for production. It also takes time and experience to train employees who have all the necessary permits to comply with workplace safety.

“We are convinced that in order to retain highly skilled workers and ensure the functioning of enterprises, an additional mechanism for reserving persons liable for military service - the so-called ‘economic reservation’ - is needed,” the association said.

The essence of “economic reservation” is to ensure a critical number of employees at enterprises, which adds predictability to the business and guarantees its operation even in the face of increased mobilization measures. This will allow agricultural enterprises to plan their production cycles and preserve state budget revenues to finance the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The agricultural sector understands the need of the Ukrainian army for people and supports the manning of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a top priority of state policy in times of war. However, the mobilization of key highly skilled employees threatens the industry's operations, as it is difficult to find replacements for specialists in times of war.

“We very much hope that the government will take into account the opinion of the grain industry, whose enterprises continue to invest in operations, equipment, research and development, pay taxes to the state budget and depend on the stable provision of the production process with qualified personnel throughout the year,” the UGA summed up.