Increase in the number of officers

Draft bill #8339 of January 9, 2023 

Status: adopted as a law. The bill awaits to be signed by the President 

Who is affected: service members, in particular, the ones without military education, and military command. 

Summary of the bill: 

• the age limit will be raised from 30 to 32 years for citizens and persons who have at least a bachelor’s degree and successfully completed an officer training course at a higher military educational institution to sign contracts for military service as officers 
• under martial law, it will be allowed to grant primary officer ranks to sergeants and major sergeants and sign contracts for officer service with them if they directly participated in combat operations for at least three months and successfully perform their duties at commanding military positions 
• such officers will have to complete a military training course relevant to their service profile no later than six months after the end of martial law. 

What is right: the bill will potentially increase the number of officers by promoting service members who may not have the appropriate education but have sufficient combat experience and successfully perform their duties. This will help to fill in vacant officer positions with personnel with appropriate experience.