On 18 August, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a major reform of higher education financing and opened parliamentary consideration of a new Customs Code. The two decisions concern very different sectors, but together they reveal something important about Ukraine in wartime: the country is being forced to defend itself today while simultaneously redesigning the institutions it will need tomorrow.
A parliament operating during a full-scale war does not have the luxury of choosing between defence and reform. Ukraine must finance its security, preserve human capital, prepare people for a radically changing labour market and continue rebuilding the rules under which its economy operates.
298 votes for a new approach to higher education
The Verkhovna Rada adopted Draft Law No. 10399 on changes to the financing of higher education and state targeted support for students. The legislation was supported by 298 Members of Parliament, with no votes against.
The reform introduces a more flexible model in which public financing is linked not only to the traditional system of state-funded places but also to the student, academic performance, educational choice and the state’s demand for qualified professionals.
Importantly, the right to obtain higher education free of charge through state and regional budget-funded places is preserved. At the same time, the law expands the range of instruments through which the government can support students.
Not one grant, but several forms of state support
The legislation establishes several categories of public grants.
- Academic grants for applicants with strong academic results;
- Heroes’ grants for war veterans, persons with disabilities resulting from the war, persons with special merits before Ukraine and affected participants of the Revolution of Dignity;
- Social grants for groups requiring additional state support;
- Special grants for people with outstanding achievements in culture, arts and sport;
- Grants for reserve officer training at military higher education institutions and military units of civilian universities.
For a country living through a long war, this architecture matters far beyond education policy. Ukraine is already dealing with the consequences of military service, displacement, demographic losses and profound changes in the labour market. The question is therefore no longer simply how many university places the state can finance.
The more difficult question is whether public money can help people acquire the qualifications the country will actually need.
Education after the war cannot end at the age of 22
One of the less visible but potentially important parts of the adopted law concerns lifelong learning.
The legislation creates conditions under which a person may obtain education again at the same higher-education level after acquiring a prescribed period of insurance record following previous studies.
In practical terms, this recognises a reality that Ukraine will increasingly face: thousands of people may need to change professions during and after the war.
A veteran returning from military service, an internally displaced person who has lost both a home and a previous workplace, an engineer adapting to new technologies, or an employee whose profession has disappeared because an enterprise was destroyed — all may need not simply a short training course, but a new professional trajectory.
The success of the reform will therefore depend not only on the legal design of grants, but on whether the new system eventually connects education, regional development, employment and Ukraine’s reconstruction needs.
The Customs Code: Parliament opened the door, but the votes are not there yet
The second significant parliamentary development of the day concerned Draft Customs Code No. 15450.
The Verkhovna Rada voted to include the draft in the parliamentary agenda. The decision received 275 votes. A subsequent vote to consider the document under an expedited procedure received 233 votes.
But the signal vote produced a different result: 220 votes in favour.
It shows that bringing a major reform onto the parliamentary agenda and building a sufficient majority for its final adoption are two different political tasks.
The result should therefore not be interpreted as the adoption of a new Customs Code. Parliament has only moved the legislative process forward. The available support demonstrated during the signal vote was below the 226 votes normally required for a decision by the Verkhovna Rada.
This means that the substance of the document, the amendments proposed by MPs and the ability to build a parliamentary majority will remain important during its further consideration.
Why these two decisions belong in the same story
Higher education and customs legislation may appear to have little in common.
Yet both are parts of the same problem confronting Ukraine.
Reconstruction is often imagined as a map of future roads, bridges, factories, energy facilities and housing. But physical infrastructure alone cannot rebuild a country.
Ukraine will also need people capable of working in a new economy and institutions capable of allowing that economy to function.
Universities determine, in part, whether the country will have engineers, doctors, teachers, defence specialists, researchers and managers. Customs rules determine, in part, how goods move across borders and how businesses interact with the state.
Both eventually reach the everyday life of an ordinary person.
The real test comes after the vote
For international observers of Ukraine, parliamentary voting numbers can sometimes look like technical details.
They are not.
The 298 votes for higher education reform demonstrate a substantial parliamentary majority around one model of change. The 220 votes recorded during the signal vote on the Customs Code demonstrate that another major reform still requires political work before it can secure sufficient support.
That distinction is important when assessing Ukraine’s institutional resilience.
The country continues to legislate while under military attack. But the existence of legislative activity is not, by itself, evidence that reform has succeeded.
The real test begins afterwards: implementation, budget financing, administrative capacity and the ability of citizens and businesses to experience a tangible change rather than simply read about another adopted law.
Ukraine’s reconstruction will not begin on the day the war ends. It is already being shaped — vote by vote — in the decisions the country makes about its people, its institutions and the rules under which both will live.
Sources: Official Portal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, parliamentary voting information of 18 August 2026; official information of the Verkhovna Rada on the adoption of Draft Law No. 10399.
