Some local authorities may be blocked from granting draft deferments

These powers may be transferred exclusively to government ministries.

According to the report, at the beginning of October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting to discuss mobilization efforts.

“Military officials emphasized that the current deferment model disrupts mobilization processes," said a source quoted by the publication.

The source indicated that concerns arose in the President's Office regarding the lists submitted by the regional administrations. In addition to the primary seven criteria, each administration maintains its own list of requirements for recognizing critical enterprises. Forbes noted that some local administrations have added several dozen additional criteria to their lists.

Following an ongoing audit of these lists, some regional administrations might lose the right to designate critical enterprises. Consequently, enterprises failing the audit will not be able to exempt their employees from mobilization.

On Oct. 9, the government suspended granting draft deferments to employees of “critical enterprises.”