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On 18 January, the Law of Ukraine № 4071-IX “On accounting for information on damage to personal non-property rights of individuals as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine” of 20 November 2024 came into force. The Law provides for the establishment of a system for recording information on damage to personal non-property rights of individuals as a result of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Among others, the system will collect information on measures taken to support the affected persons and the amount of expenditures of the state and local budgets, budgets of the compulsory state social insurance funds made for their implementation. It also provides for the creation of a separate Register of Information on Children Deported or Forcibly Displaced.

On 9 January, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) adopted the Law of Ukraine № № 4197-IX “On amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On military duty and military service’ regarding the peculiarities of registering Ukrainian citizens for military service and medical examination of conscripts during their basic military training”. According to the amendments:

• local self-government bodies, enterprises, institutions, organisations, educational institutions are exempted from the obligation to annually submit to the territorial recruitment and social support centre (TRSSC) lists of citizens subject to military registration for conscription;
• male citizens of Ukraine who turn 17 years old in the year of military registration in the period from 1 January to 31 July must register for military registration either online (through the electronic office of a conscript, person liable for military service, or reservist) or personally come to the TRSSC;
• citizens will undergo a medical examination before the start of practical classes of basic general military training;
• women who are fit for military service for health and age reasons and who have expressed a desire to perform basic military service will be registered with the military registration office for conscripts before being sent for basic military service upon their application;
• the period of military training under the reserve officer training programme during the period of martial law may be reduced by half.

On 8 January, the Law of Ukraine № 3599-IX “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine on the exercise of certain powers in the field of construction” of 23 February 2024 came into force. These amendments expand the powers of executive bodies of village, town and city councils in the field of construction, and improve the definition of the term ‘construction customer’. They also grant authority to local state, military-civilian and military administrations to perform the function of a customer for the construction and repair of residential buildings, social and industrial infrastructure of municipal property, and the ability to entrust such functions to a municipal organisation of the relevant field of activity.

On 8 January 2025, the Law of Ukraine № 3703-IX “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine on democracy at the local government level” of 9 May 2024 came into force. The amendments define a list of the main forms of participation of the municipality in addressing local issues, and detail the mechanism for their implementation as a general meeting (conference) of residents, local initiative, public hearings, public evaluation of the activities of local self-government bodies and officials. They also introduce the mandatory approval of the charters of municipalities and define the list of issues to be reflected in the charters; create preconditions for involving residents in the planning and allocation of local budget funds, public consultations, and the activities of advisory bodies under local self-government bodies and officials; and update the requirements for the reporting procedure of village, settlement and town mayors and deputies of local councils.

On 1 January, the Law of Ukraine № 4062-IX “On amendments to part three of Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On mobilisation preparation and mobilisation’ regarding the clarification of the grounds for granting a postponement of conscription for military service during mobilisation” of 20 November 2024 came into force. This Law provides for the right to defer mobilisation for a special period for women and men whose close relatives (husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother or sibling) were killed or went missing under special circumstances during the implementation of measures to ensure national security and defence, repulse and deter the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as during the implementation of measures to ensure national security and defence, repulse and deter the armed aggression against Ukraine during the period of martial law. The Law also grants the right to postpone mobilisation to persons in respect of whom the deprivation of personal liberty as a result of armed aggression against Ukraine has been established in accordance with the procedure established by the Law. Such persons may be called up for military service only with their consent.

On 20 January, the Second Senate of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine adopted Decision № 2-р(II)/2025 in the case on the constitutional complaint of Petro Kontorskyi regarding the compliance of subparagraph 7 of paragraph 1 of part two of Article 4, part one of Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine “On court fee” (regarding access to the court of cassation in civil proceedings) with the Constitution of Ukraine. According to this Decision, the above-mentioned provision of the Law - according to which the rate of court fee for filing a cassation appeal against a court decision (application for joining a cassation appeal against a court decision) was set at 200% of the rate payable when filing a statement of claim (other statement and complaint) - was declared inconsistent with the Constitution of Ukraine.

The Constitutional Court concluded that the above provision of the Law does not comply with the principle of proportionality, as it restricts a person's access to the Supreme Court as a court of cassation in civil cases only due to financial circumstances. The provision declared unconstitutional shall cease to be effective 6 months after the date of this Decision.

On 28 January, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU) adopted Resolution № 94 “On amendments to Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on improving the process of assessment of a person's daily functioning”. This Resolution amended the following acts of the Government:

• “The Procedure for provision of auxiliary rehabilitation facilities (technical and other rehabilitation facilities) to persons with disabilities, children with disabilities and other certain categories of population and payment of monetary compensation for the cost of self-purchased such facilities”, approved by CMU Resolution No. 321 dated 5 April 2012;
• “The Procedure for the conscription of citizens for military service during mobilisation and for a special period”, approved by CMU Resolution No. 560 of 16 May 2024; and
• CMU Resolution № 1338 “Some issues of implementation of the assessment of the daily functioning of a person” of 15 November 2024.

The following documents have been revised: “Criteria for referral for assessment of a person's daily functioning”; ‘Medical interventions, which are the basis for referral for assessment of a person's daily functioning”; and “Diagnoses, which are the basis for referral for assessment of a person's daily functioning”.

On 28 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 92 “On amendments to the Procedure for forming a state order for training and professional development of employees of state authorities, local self-government bodies, other state bodies whose employees are subject to the Law of Ukraine ‘On civil service’, and military command bodies of the Armed Forces”. This Resolution clarifies the procedure for forming a state order for advanced training of local government officials on anti-terrorist security.

On 28 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 91 “On amendments to the Procedure for conscription of citizens for military service during mobilisation and for a special period”. This Resolution introduces innovations in the referral and medical examination of persons liable for military service, and reservists who voluntarily expressed a desire to serve in a military unit of their choice and are called up for military service by military unit commanders.

On 28 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 89 “On approval of the Procedure for conducting a conciliation meeting on issuance of an integrated environmental permit”. This Resolution establishes the Procedure for holding a coordination meeting on the issuance of an integrated environmental permit (amendments thereto) to prevent, reduce and control pollution arising from certain activities specified in the Annex to the Law of Ukraine № 3855-IX “On integrated industrial pollution prevention and control” dated 16 July 2024. Pursuant to the approved Procedure, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources convenes the coordination meeting and notifies the business entity that carries out (or intends to carry out) the technical operation of the facility that may pollute the environment, as well as representatives of local self-governments and the public who submitted comments and proposals on convening such a meeting.

On 28 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 86 “On amendments to Clause 3 of the Procedure and Conditions for providing subventions from the state budget to local budgets to meet the needs for a safe educational environment”. In accordance with the amendments, the subvention may also be used to purchase and install independent sources of electricity (generators) to provide autonomous power supply to educational institutions.

On 28 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 74 “On amendments to Annex 1 to the Procedure for leasing state and municipal property”. The amendments update the requirements for the list of documents to be submitted together with an application for inclusion of a lease object in the Second Type List or for lease of a lease object from the Second Type List by the following potential lessees: a religious organisation (including one that, as of 27 December 2019, used the lease object free of charge on the basis of a loan agreement or other agreement and wishes to enter into a lease agreement); a state publishing house: and a book distribution enterprise.

On 24 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 67 “Some issues of ensuring the activities of specialists in support of war veterans and demobilised persons”. According to this Resolution, the amount of the subvention to local budgets in 2025 to support the activities of specialists in supporting war veterans and demobilised persons, and certain measures to support persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, was distributed among the budgets of all regions in the total amount of almost UAH 365 million.

It also amended CMU resolutions № 779 “On approval of the Procedure and Conditions for providing subventions from the state budget to local budgets in 2024 to support the activities of specialists in support of war veterans and demobilised persons and certain measures to support persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” dated 5 July 2024 and № 881 “Some issues of supporting the activities of specialists in support of war veterans and demobilised persons” dated 2 August 2024.

On 21 January, the CMU adopted Resolution №84 “On amendments to certain resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to support certain categories of persons for the winter period 2024/25”. According to this Resolution, the following acts were amended:

• “The Procedure for the use of state budget funds to ensure social protection of citizens in difficult life circumstances”, approved by CMU Resolution No. 1475 “Some issues of social protection of citizens in difficult life circumstances” dated 30 December 2022;
• “The Procedure for the use of funds provided for in the state budget to support low-income families”, approved by CMU Resolution No. 1478 “Some issues of social protection of low-income families” of 30 December 2022; and
• CMU Resolution № 1341 dated 26 November 2024 “Some issues of support for certain categories of persons for the winter period 2024/25 ‘Warm Winter’”.

It also updated requirements for the payment in 2025 of one-time financial assistance to children and persons with disabilities of group I from among internally displaced persons who were entitled to one-time financial assistance but did not receive it in 2024, as well as one-time financial assistance for children from low-income families to get through the winter period of 2024/25.

On 21 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 65 “On amendments to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1320 dated 7 December 2023 ‘Some issues of construction and/or placement of gas piston and gas turbine installations, in particular cogeneration, block modular boiler houses, diesel/petrol and gas generators, for the period of martial law’”. In accordance with the amendments, for the period of martial law, business entities are allowed to construct and/or place the above-mentioned facilities (with a capacity of 1 MW or more), as well as related electricity, heat, gas, water supply networks, metering units, and other related equipment necessary to provide thermal and/or electrical energy to critical infrastructure facilities, under a simplified procedure. Such installations may not be put into operation without a certificate of acceptance of the completed facility, provided that comprehensive testing of electrical installations is carried out to the extent required by industry regulations.

On 21 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 62 “On approval of the Procedure for the use of funds provided for in the state budget for measures to support and assist war veterans, members of their families and members of the families of the deceased, and the invalidation of certain resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine”. This Resolution approved the abovementioned Procedure, according to which structural subdivisions of executive bodies of city, district in cities (if they are established), settlement and village councils, which are responsible for veterans' policy, may be managers of lower-level budget funds. There are eight possible areas of use of budget funds and tariffs for providing certain services.

On 21 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 61 “On approval of the Procedure for state monitoring in the spheres of drinking water, drinking water supply and sewerage”. This Resolution defines the Procedure for state monitoring, organising interaction between executive authorities, local self-government bodies, drinking water supply companies, and centralised and non-centralised sewage companies, and providing executive authorities and local self-government bodies with information for making management decisions.

Local self-government bodies (with their consent):

• acquire the status of subjects of state monitoring, i.e. participants in the systematic process of collecting, processing, storing and analysing information on the quality of drinking water, the state of centralised drinking water supply facilities and sewage systems, the provision of centralised water supply and centralised sewage services, the reuse of treated wastewater and sewage sludge, forecasting changes and developing scientifically based recommendations for making management decisions;
• ensure the organisation of monitoring within the territory of the municipality;
• report on emergency and emergency situations in the areas of drinking water and drinking water supply and sewerage; and
• process and summarise the results of monitoring within the territory of the municipality, identify problems and take measures to resolve them.

On 21 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 60 “On amendments to certain resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the transfer, acceptance and maintenance of military engineering and fortification facilities”. According to this Resolution, the following acts were amended: CMU Resolution № 1482 “On the transfer of state and communal property” of 21 September 1998; and CMU Resolution № 1415 “Some issues of enhancing the defence capability of the state for the period of martial law in Ukraine” dated 29 December 2023.

Furthermore, “the Procedure for the transfer, acceptance, maintenance, servicing, protection and keeping operational records of military engineering and fortifications” was set out in a new version and the form of the ‘Act of Acceptance and Transfer of Fortifications’ was approved. Regional and district state administrations (military administrations) and military administrations of settlements were instructed to ensure the transfer of military engineering and fortifications to the Ministry of Defence within 2 months.

On 21 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 57 “On amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 631 dated 1 August 2013 ‘On approval of the Procedure for procurement inspections by the State Audit Service, its interregional territorial bodies and amendments to certain acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine’”. This Resolution amended the Procedure for conducting inspections including of procurement by local self-governments, associations of municipalities, and enterprises, institutions, organisations and their associations that meet the needs of the municipality.

On 17 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 50 “Some issues of implementation of the process approach in central executive bodies”. The CMU approved the Procedure for analysing and optimising workflows in central executive authorities, to introduce a systematic review of procedures and workflows for their continuous improvement, digitalisation, improvement of the quality of results, and establishment of uniform standards for organising these authorities’ effective work. They must establish or designate structural units (working groups) within 1 month to ensure the fulfilment of tasks related to analysing and optimising business processes. These units (working groups) will have the right to demand that local self-governments, enterprises, institutions, organisations, other legal entities and individual entrepreneurs provide information, documents and materials necessary for analysing and optimising central executive authorities’ work processes.

On 17 January 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU) adopted Resolution № 42 “Some Issues of accreditation of healthcare institutions”. This Resolution amended the procedure for accreditation of municipally owned healthcare facilities and the list of required documents for their accreditation.

On 14 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 31 “On amendments to the Regulation on certification of teachers”. This Resolution sets out the above Regulation in a new version, which will come into force on 1 September 2025. The purpose of the certification is to identify and encourage teachers with a high level of pedagogical excellence who are proficient in competency-based learning methods and new educational technologies and promote their dissemination. The certificate will be valid for 3 years starting from 1 January of the year following the successful certification. Certificated teachers will receive a 20% supplement to their salary for 3 years.

On 14 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 23 “On approval of the procedure and conditions for providing in 2025 an additional subsidy from the state budget to local budgets for the exercise of powers of local self-government bodies in the de-occupied, temporarily occupied and other territories of Ukraine affected by the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation”. This Resolution approves the above-mentioned Procedure and Conditions for providing an additional subsidy, which should partially compensate for the negative impact on local budgets due to the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation.

On 10 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 18 “On the establishment of a Coordination Centre for the management of regions in the territory of which military operations are (were) conducted or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation”. The Coordination Centre is a temporary advisory body of the CMU established to ensure coordinated actions of central and local executive authorities, local self-government bodies, enterprises, institutions and organisations on the management of the abovementioned regions.

On 10 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 14 “On amendments to Clause 13 of the Procedure for holding a competition for the position of head of a state or municipal healthcare institution”. According to the amendments, if the labour collective of the institution has not submitted proposals for the candidacies of its representatives to the competition commission elected at the general meeting of the labour collective, the competition commission shall have eight persons, of whom four must be representatives of public associations.

On 10 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 13 “On amendments to Clause 1 of Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 252 of 11 March 2022 ‘Some issues of formation and execution of local budgets during the period of martial law’”. In accordance with the amendments, town, settlement and village councils, and military administrations of settlements (if established) shall decide to amend local budget decisions on the basis of an official conclusion of the local financial authority on the amount of the balance of the special budget fund under the subvention for providing meals to primary school students of general secondary education institutions.

On 7 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 6 “On amendments to the Procedure for maintaining the state land cadastre”. According to this Resolution, it is possible to initiate the entry into the State Land Cadastre of information on restrictions on the use of particularly valuable land, forest land and their classification as defence land. In this case, the applicant must submit land management documentation for such a land plot to the state registrar. If, in accordance with the law, the change of the designated purpose of a land plot is carried out without the development of land management documentation, the application shall be accompanied by technical land management documentation on land inventory.

On 3 January, the CMU adopted Resolution № 1 “On determining the Procedure for payment of pensions to certain categories of persons in 2025 during the period of martial law”. If, during the period of martial law in 2025, the amount of pension payments granted in accordance with a number of laws (including the Law of Ukraine “On service in local self-government bodies”) - including allowances and other surcharges established by law -  exceeds 10 times the subsistence minimum established for persons who have lost their ability to work (i.e. more than UAH 23,610), such pension will be paid using the reduced coefficients specified in this Resolution.

Clarifications and positions

On 31 January, the Supreme Court published a digest of the case law of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court for December 2024. The digest reflects the legal positions of the Grand Chamber, in particular, regarding: the moment from which the 6-month period for declaring an individual deceased starts; possible grounds for termination of a land lease agreement; and the procedure for confirming the powers of a person through whom a legal entity acts in court on the basis of self-representation.

On 17 January, the Supreme Court published an overview of the current case law of the Administrative Court of Cassation as part of the Supreme Court for December 2024. The overview reflects the legal positions of the Supreme Court regarding:

• applying Art. 54 of the Law of Ukraine “On the status and social protection of citizens affected by the Chornobyl disaster”, taking into account the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 1-р(ІІ)/2021 dated 7 April 2021, when calculating pensions;
• paying the average salary for the period of delay in payment upon dismissal of an employee in legal relations regulated by Article 117 of the Labour Code of Ukraine (as amended on 1 July 2022); and
• the possibility of appealing in court against the city mayor's order suspending the decision of the local council.

The website of the State Enterprise ProZorro contains the Supreme Court's practice in disputes over the procedure for determining the subject of procurement. The Supreme Court concluded that the following information must be specified when publishing an announcement of an open tender in the electronic procurement system:

• generalised name of the procurement;
• the code of the procurement item according to the Unified Procurement Dictionary by the fourth digit, which is automatically pulled into the announcement (from the annual plan);
• specific name of the procurement item;
• the code of the product defined in accordance with the Unified Procurement Dictionary, which most closely corresponds to the name of the nomenclature item of the procurement item.

Therefore, in order to correctly determine the subject of procurement and correctly publish all the necessary information, based on the legal positions of the Supreme Court, it is necessary to be guided by Law № 922-VIII, Order № 708 and Order № 1082.

The Supreme Court has formulated its legal position on the proper defendant in the case on the claim for recognition of the sale and purchase agreement of a communal land plot as concluded (Resolution of 18 December 2024 in case N 907/825/22). The proper defendant in a case involving a buyer's claim for recognition of a municipally owned land plot sale and purchase agreement as concluded is the local self-government body that, in accordance with the law, exercises the powers of the owner of the land plot on behalf of the municipality, including in the event that it decides to authorise the executive body to enter into such an agreement.

The State Labour Service has issued clarifications on what an employer should do if it is unable to accrue and pay salaries to its employees during the period of martial law. Salaries must be paid at least twice a month. However, pursuant to Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On the organisation of labour relations under martial law”, the employer must take all possible measures to ensure the exercise of the employees' right to receive their salaries on time. However, the employer is exempt from liability for breach of the obligation to pay wages on time, if it proves that the breach occurred as a result of hostilities or other force majeure circumstances.

The State Labour Service has issued clarifications on possible grounds for conducting extraordinary control measures on labour legislation. Unscheduled measures of state supervision (control) during the period of martial law are carried out:

• at the request of an individual regarding a violation that caused damage to his/her rights, legitimate interests, life or health, environment or security of the state, with the attachment of documents or copies thereof confirming such violations (if any);
• on the instructions of the Prime Minister in connection with identified systemic violations and/or the occurrence of an event that has a significant negative impact on the rights, legitimate interests, human life and health, environmental protection and security of the state;
• at the request of officials of local self-government bodies on violation of the requirements of the legislation by the business entity;
• at the request of a trade union on behalf of an employee;
• in connection with the failure of a business entity to comply with orders to eliminate violations of the law issued after 1 May 2022.

The State Tax Service (STS) has issued its clarification on whether the provision of subparagraph 266.7.11 of paragraph 266.7 of Article 266 of the Tax Code of Ukraine (TCU) applies to a legal entity that owns 10 residential real estate objects (apartments), each of which has an area of 200 m2. Pursuant to subparagraph 266.7.11 of paragraph 266.7 of Article 266 of the Tax Code, if a taxpayer (individual or a legal entity) owns a residential property (or properties) with a total area exceeding 300 m2 (for an apartment) and/or 500 m2 (for a house), the tax amount calculated in accordance with subparagraphs ‘a’ - ‘d’ of subparagraph 266.7.1 of this paragraph shall be increased by UAH 25,000 per year for each such residential property.

If a taxpayer owns several apartments, the above provision of the Tax Code applies only to the property with a total area exceeding 300 m2, while the above provision does not apply to other residential property with a total area not exceeding 300 m2.

Since the above-mentioned provision of the Tax Code provides for an increase in the amount of tax for each apartment with a total area exceeding 300 m2, the application of the said provision does not require adding the areas of all apartments owned by the taxpayer.

The STS has issued clarifications on whether the object of VAT taxation arises when a taxpayer receives funds from UNICEF. According to the TCU, the object of VAT taxation is the taxpayer's transactions for the supply of goods/services, the place of supply of which is located in the customs territory of Ukraine, and not the receipt of funds. Therefore, if the funds received by the taxpayer from UNICEF are not compensation for the cost of goods/services directly supplied by the taxpayer, then the taxpayer does not incur VAT consequences upon receipt of such funds. If the said funds are received by the taxpayer as payment for the cost of goods/services delivered (or to be delivered in the future) by such taxpayer, such funds are included in the VAT base.

The State Labour Service has issued clarifications on whether downtime is included in the length of service that gives the right to annual additional leave for working in hazardous conditions. During the downtime, the employment contract with employees continues, but they do not perform their labour duties. The periods of work that give rise to the right to annual additional leave are set out in Article 9(1) of the Vacation Law. Thus, an employee is not entitled to annual additional leave for the period of inactivity.

The State Labour Service has issued a clarification on whether an employer's requirement to provide explanations for being late for work is mobbing. The employer's requirements for the proper performance of the employee's work duties, changes in the employee's workplace, position or remuneration in accordance with the procedure established by law, collective bargaining agreement or employment contract are not considered mobbing (harassment). Therefore, a demand for explanations for violations of the work schedule is not a manifestation of mobbing.

The State Labour Service of Ukraine has issued clarifications regarding actions to be taken by an employer in case of termination of a contract with a service member who continues to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Pursuant to part nine of Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine “On military duty and military service”, for service members performing military service under a contract, the contract is extended beyond the established period from the moment of introduction of martial law until demobilisation is announced. Thus, a service member whose contract has expired but who continues to serve will retain all the guarantees provided for in Article 119 of the Labour Code of Ukraine, namely, his/her place of work and position, and until 18 July 2022 inclusive, his/her average salary.