“Point of support”

Cabinet Resolution #449 of April 1, 2026

Who is affected: employers, employees, and employment centers.

Summary:

• the resolution reimburses employers from the Employment Fund for the difference between an employee’s average salary over the previous six months and the actual payment for downtime, but not more than two minimum wages per employee — 17,294 UAH;
• a basic support period of up to three months is restored, with the possibility of extension for another six months, provided that real steps to restore economic activity are confirmed: relocation, repairs, or restoration of the production process;
• to receive assistance, an enterprise must:
  • have operated for at least six months before the property was damaged;
  • have no wage arrears, tax arrears, or unified social contribution arrears;
  • not be in the process of liquidation;
  • plan to resume operations in territory controlled by Ukraine;
• an employer becomes eligible for assistance if the fact of damage or destruction of its property as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, or sabotage caused by Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, occurring after January 1, 2026, is established;
• the resolution provides for submission of an application through the employment center at the place of business activity within 90 days from the date downtime is formalized, with the possibility of electronic submission via Diia or the Obrii system;
• with the consent of both parties, employees during downtime are allowed to be involved in socially useful work, but the resolution does not specify the amount of payment for this case.

What is right:

The program fills a real gap, since before its introduction, an employer whose plant or office was destroyed by a missile faced a choice — either dismiss people or keep them at its own expense without any state support. “Point of Support” offers a third option: to keep the employees during the recovery period. The possibility of confirming real steps toward recovery in order to extend payments beyond three months is the right mechanism. It prevents abuse and filters out those who would use the program as an indefinite subsidy without intending to resume operations. The possibility of involving employees in socially useful work is an unconventional but practically useful solution: a person does not simply stay at home but does something socially meaningful while maintaining a work routine.

What is wrong:

The limitation by the date of January 1, 2026, is questionable, since enterprises damaged in 2022–2025 that have still not recovered are not covered. The payment cap of two minimum wages is too low for higher-paid sectors and insufficient to retain qualified specialists in production with a higher wage level. The difference between the actual salary and the assistance under these conditions will fall on the employer, reducing the attractiveness of the program precisely where personnel are most valuable.

The requirement to submit an application to the competent authorities at the place of business activity — in circumstances where that place may be destroyed or located in an active combat zone — is an overly burdensome requirement that may become a real barrier to accessing the program.

Alternative solution:

The starting date should be moved to at least February 24, 2022, or linked to the actual date of property damage without a time limit. The payment cap should be differentiated depending on the sector or linked to the average wage in the sector, rather than to a fixed minimum wage. This would make the program meaningful for qualified industries as well.

The requirement to submit documents at the place of business activity should be softened: applications should be allowed at any employment center with subsequent transfer of the case, or the process should be digitalized, especially for enterprises from frontline territories whose managers may be located in other regions.

What happened:

“Point of Support” is one of the few state support instruments that protects both the employer and the employee in a situation where production has stopped not for economic reasons, but because of the war. The logic of the program is correct: preserving a workforce until operations resume is cheaper than later searching for new people for a restored enterprise. The restrictions based on the date of January 1, 2026, and the place for submitting documents narrow the coverage to a level that does not correspond to the scale of the problem. The real value of the program will be determined by how many enterprises actually use it and how many of them resume operations, rather than limiting participation to only three months of support.