The Ukrainian government says it has invoked wartime laws to take control of stakes in several “strategically important” companies in order to guarantee sufficient supplies for its military to repel an invasion of Russia. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced on Monday the takeover of a leading engine maker and four other energy and manufacturing businesses by some of the country’s richest people. He did not specify the size of the stakes taken, but said the assets of the five companies would be managed by his ministry to meet an “urgent” military need. “This is about providing fuel and lubricants, repairing military equipment and weapons,” Reznikov told a news conference, alongside Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal and Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council. There was no immediate comment from any of the five companies. During the conference, Shmyhal said the companies placed under state control produce products or provide services that are “critical” to Ukraine’s defense and energy needs. “These operations must operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the needs of the state’s defense,” he said. The announcement comes as Russia has launched a barrage of airstrikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, destroying around 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. It was the first time the government has used martial law for such a move since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. It is also the most dramatic wartime crackdown on big business, affecting companies linked to tycoons whose political power Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s team has long sought to curtail. The businesses include aircraft engine maker Motor Sich operating out of the partially Russian-controlled Zaporizhia region, Danilov told a news conference in the capital, Kyiv. “After the lifting of martial law, these assets may be returned to their owners or their value refunded,” Danilov added. The other energy and construction companies include Zaporozhtransformator, AvtoKrAZ and oil and gas company UkrNafta. The decision was made at a meeting of top security officials chaired by Zelensky on Saturday and took effect on Sunday. The companies are partly state-owned and linked to powerful businessmen, including billionaires Ihor Kolomoisky and Kostiantyn Zhevaho, as well as businessman Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, who was arrested in October on suspicion of working with Russia. “This is not nationalization,” Reznikov said. “This is a direct takeover of wartime assets. These are completely different legal forms.”
