The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has supported the draft Law on International Defense Companies, which regulates their activities, with comments.

This is reported on the government portal.

The purpose of the draft law is to regulate the legal status and activities of international military companies established in Ukraine, which participate in defense activities and provide defense services outside the territory of Ukraine.

The draft law proposes to establish the “State Service of Ukraine for International Defense Companies” to regulate and manage the activities of international defense companies. It will be subordinated to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

The new state body will control the activities of such structures, register agreements on defense services, and account for weapons and equipment on their balance sheet.

International defense companies

According to the draft law, an International Defense Company (IDC) is a business entity established and registered in Ukraine that provides defense services outside the territory of Ukraine on the basis of a license.

According to the draft law, only individuals and legal entities that are residents of Ukraine can be founders of an international defense company.

An IDC can be registered and have a permanent location only in the regions of Ukraine that border the territory of states recognized by Ukraine as a terrorist state.

Employees of such companies may be citizens of Ukraine, foreigners and stateless persons who have reached the age of 21 and have at least 1 year of service in the Armed Forces, the National Guard or other military formations of Ukraine.

An international defense company outside the territory of Ukraine has the right to provide the following defense services:

1. Organization and practical implementation of security measures aimed at ensuring the safety of individuals and legal entities, their employees and lawful activities;
2. Organization and practical implementation of measures to protect buildings, structures, land plots (territories), water areas, vehicles, currency, securities and other movable and immovable property;
3. Tactical (theoretical and practical) training of personnel of military formations and law enforcement agencies of other states and international organizations;
4. Tactical (theoretical and practical) training of personnel of security entities;
5. Mine clearance of territories, buildings, structures and other objects;
6. Consulting services in the field of security, law and order, peaceful conflict resolution, mediation in armed conflicts;
7. Defense services to countries allied with Ukraine in accordance with the procedure established by law.

Arms and equipment

Weapons of International Defense Companies: small arms of all types, ammunition, edged weapons, fragmentation and non-fragmentation explosive devices and materials, detonators and initiators, as well as other weapons registered and assigned to them.

The law provides for the use of armored wheeled and tracked vehicles by international defense companies, which can be armed with no more than a large-caliber machine gun and/or an anti-tank missile system. They are also allowed to use special equipment, such as bridge pavers, demining and fencing machines.

This equipment must be registered and assigned to international defense companies and can be used in the performance of defense activities and the provision of defense services.

It also provides for the use of special equipment by organizations: electronic warfare and/or reconnaissance systems, unmanned aerial vehicles of all types, software and hardware of information security systems, high-altitude and stationary ground reconnaissance equipment.

The draft law harmonizes the right of international defense companies to purchase equipment and weapons from foreign companies, as well as the possibility of renting them from military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations of Ukraine (with the approval of the State Service of Ukraine for International Defense Companies).

Criticism of the draft law

The Ministry of Defense noted that the draft law as proposed was not consistent with the Constitution of Ukraine, the Laws of Ukraine “On Defense of Ukraine” and “On Intelligence”.

In addition, it contradicts international treaties, in particular the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, and the recommendations of the Montreux Document, which addresses the functioning of private military companies during armed conflict.

“In addition, the idea of creating a legal framework for military consulting activities has been discussed in the professional community for a long time and requires the involvement of international best practices to integrate the relevant international legal framework with national legislation,” the MoD document states.

Due to the above problems, the MoD proposes to establish a working group to finalize the draft law, which will involve representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and other relevant bodies.