Which category a tractor needs and how to check a licence

To drive a tractor you need a tractor-driver licence (посвідчення тракториста-машиніста), not a car or truck driving licence: category A1 for tractors with an engine up to 73.5 kW (about 100 hp), A2 above 73.5 kW, the same for wheeled and tracked tractors, and B1, B2 or B3 for combines and other harvesters (item 4 of the Regulation approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 217). A mini tractor is a tractor under these rules too: it needs category A1, and the owner must register it with Держпродспоживслужба (the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection) within 10 days of buying it (item 3 of the Procedure approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 694). The licence is issued by the State Service's office in the oblast where you live or study, after training and two exams; the exams and the issue are free, only the blank is paid for. The licence has no expiry, so old-style cards are valid. As of November 2026 there is no online check: every licence is entered in the State Service's Unified Register, and its oblast office can confirm that it was issued. As of 11.11.2026, during martial law and for 90 days after it, a holder of a C1, C, D1 or D driving licence may drive A1-B3 machines without a tractor-driver licence, and on public roads only on district roads of local significance.

Last checked: 11.11.2026. The rules are given from the texts of the acts in the editions in force on 11 November 2026, including Cabinet Resolutions No. 217, No. 694 and No. 1259, the Law on Road Traffic, the Road Rules (ПДР) and the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences (КУпАП); the amendments made by Resolution No. 1372 of 04.11.2026 apply from 11.11.2026, the day of its official publication in Uriadovyi Kurier. The wartime rules last for a set period after martial law ends, so we re-check the page at every extension. This is a description of the rules, not legal advice.

Which category you need for which machine#

The categories are set by item 4 of the Regulation: tractors are divided by engine power, harvesters by what they harvest. A short definition is in the glossarya.

The boundary between A1 and A2 is the same for wheeled and tracked tractors: the Regulation has no separate category for tracked tractors and no speed threshold either. 73.5 kW equals 99.9 metric horsepower or 98.6 mechanical horsepower (hp), and a figure given as «к.с.» (horsepower) can be either. So for a tractor of about 100 hp, check the engine power in kilowatts in the machine's documents.

On 11 November 2026 ADAM's tractor cataloguea held 1 741 tractors with a rated power stated by the maker. Our count:

What category A2 covers#

A2 lets you drive tractors with an engine above 73.5 kW (item 4 of the Regulation). Tractors up to 73.5 kW belong to A1, and you may drive only machines of the categories repeated in the «Відмітка про дозвіл» (permission mark) box, so check that both are there. Whether an earlier category is needed, the Regulation leaves to the professional standards. According to the State Service's explanation of 01.10.2026, licences for A2, B1-B3, C, D1, D2, E1 and E2 are issued to holders of A1 with at least a year of work on such machines. As of 11.11.2026, during martial law and for 90 days after it, an A1 holder may train for A2, B1-B3, C, D1, E1, E2, G1, G2 and H without counting work experience (Resolution No. 217 as amended by Resolution No. 1372).

How to check a tractor-driver licence#

As of November 2026 no online check of a tractor-driver licence exists, in Diia or on the site of the МВС (Interior Ministry) service centres: Diia offers only in-person issue of a licence or duplicate, and the МВС check covers driving licences. We found no public access to the register of tractor-driver licences.

The Regulation itself gives the route. Every licence issued is entered within three days in the Unified Register held by the State Service (item 7), and its series and number in a registration book kept for 45 years (items 18, 34). The service's oblast body can confirm the issue. The Regulation does not say how or in what form it answers a request, so ask the body itself. On the card, check:

• «Відмітка про дозвіл» (permission mark): only the categories repeated there are valid, the rest are struck out with xxxxxx (items 4, 19);
• «Для особливих відміток» (special notes): the make of machine if the permit is limited to it (item 22), or the date from which a graduate under 18 may drive (item 21);
• for a driver working under the wartime rule, a C1, C, D1 or D driving licence: it is checked like any driving licence, on the МВС service.

As of November 2026 a tractor-driver licence cannot be added to Diia. Bill No. 13572 on an electronic tractor-driver licence was introduced in the Verkhovna Rada in 2025, and as of 11.11.2026 it is under consideration in committee.

What the licence looks like#

The form is in annex 1 to Cabinet Resolution No. 1259: a 105 × 140 mm card of stiff light paper with a coloured grid, laminated once filled in. The front carries «ПОСВІДЧЕННЯ ТРАКТОРИСТА-МАШИНІСТА» and «PERMIS DE CONDUIRE», the holder's details, a 40 × 30 mm photo, the series and number, the issuing body, the date, the signatures of the exam board's chair and the holder, a stamp. The series is two capital Ukrainian letters that have Latin equivalents; the number has six digits. The back carries the table of categories. Old cards bear the names of earlier bodies, Держтехнагляд (State Technical Supervision) or the state agricultural inspection, and remain valid.

Is an old-style tractor-driver licence valid?#

Yes. The licence is valid for an unlimited time and is exchanged only when it has become unfit for use or when it is replaced (item 25 of the Regulation); the exchange needs no exams (item 26). On exchange, the old categories are converted into new ones:

Licences with classes instead of categories get categories by the diploma: one or two in place of class III, at least two for class II, at least three for class I (item 29). A licence with no expiry does not cancel the periodic medical examination at the intervals set by the Ministry of Health (item 6).

What martial law changed#

A tractor-driver licence is needed during martial law just as before it, and no act suspends its validity. As of 11.11.2026, four rules have changed:

A category B driving licence gives no such right. The State Service's news of 16.04.2026 and some websites still say that C and D drivers may not use public roads: that was so until 28.09.2026. Until 10.11.2026, anyone who failed the exam for a new category also lost the licence they held. As of 11.11.2026, martial law has been extended from 31.10.2026 for 90 days, to 29.01.2027; if it is not extended, the rule for C and D drivers will apply for 90 more days, to about 29.04.2027. A temporarily registered machine must be registered in the usual way within six months after martial law, or it will count as unregistered.

Do you need a licence for a mini tractor?#

Yes. The Regulation covers tractors "including home-built ones" (item 1), and category A1 covers tractors with an engine up to 73.5 kW with no lower limit (item 4). Neither the Regulation nor the Procedure for registering machines has an exemption for power, speed, size or work only on your own plot. So a mini tractor needs an A1 licence and registration. All 304 compact tractors in ADAM's cataloguea with a stated power have 11 to 68 hp (our count of 11.11.2026), which is A1. How to choose a plough for such a tractor is in our guidea.

Neither resolution names walk-behind tractors (мотоблоки); for a particular machine, ask the State Service's territorial body. Three common mistakes:

• <strong>"A category B car licence is enough".</strong> It gives no right to drive a tractor, and the wartime rule does not cover it.
• <strong>"No licence is needed on your own plot".</strong> The acts contain no such exemption.
• <strong>"Only machines with an engine over 50 cm³ are registered".</strong> That is the boundary between a moped and a motorcycle in item 1.10 of the Road Rules, not a rule for tractors.

Registration within 10 days#

The owner must register the machine with the State Service's territorial body within 10 days of buying it, clearing it through customs or another ground; the term can be extended for illness or a business trip (item 3 of the Procedure). Registration takes seven days from an application with the full set of documents (item 4), and the owner receives a machine registration certificate and a number plate (item 5). A dealer in the State Service's register may sell a machine unregistered, issuing a «Транзит» (transit) plate valid for 10 days (item 8). Using an unregistered machine without such a plate is banned (item 27). Trailers and mounted equipment are registered at the owner's wish, except tractor trailers and, from 12.09.2026, plant-protection equipment used by professional users (item 3 as amended by Resolution No. 1099).

How to get a tractor-driver licence#

1. Vocational training to drive the categories you need, at a licensed school or enterprise (item 35); a school must be registered with the State Service (item 37). Result: a diploma or certificate of qualification (item 8).
2. A medical examination (item 7).
3. Documents to the service's body: application, diploma or certificate, medical certificate, two 3 × 4 cm photos, a copy of the taxpayer card, an identity document; for a new category, also your current licence if the professional standard requires it (item 14).
4. Exams before the examination board: theory on the Road Rules and practice on a machine of the category sought, provided by the school or the candidate (items 7, 10). A retake no sooner than 10 days later (item 11).

Driving is allowed from 18 (item 21 of the Regulation, art. 15 of the Law on Road Traffic). A graduate qualified as a tractor driver gets the licence at any age, with the date from which they may drive. From 16, a school may give a student a certificate for work practice off the road network, under the Cabinet's procedure (art. 15¹ of the law). Graduates of professional pre-higher and higher institutions who studied machines can get a licence on their diploma after exams on the Road Rules and in practice (item 23).

Exams and issue are free except the blank (Diia service card 01666). Ask the service's body about the blank's price and the school about training costs. Collect the licence within a month of the exams, and within a year at the latest.

Who issues the licence#

The State Service's territorial body issues it to people who live or study, permanently or temporarily, in its oblast or in Kyiv (item 3 of the Regulation), so displaced people apply where they now live. The head of the body may admit someone from another area or from abroad to the exams (item 14). МВС service centres neither issue nor restore tractor-driver licences: the МВС only approves the theory exam tickets (item 7). Licences were once issued by Держтехнагляд inspections, from 2012 by state agricultural inspections, and since 2019 the Regulation names the State Service (Resolution No. 19).

Lost or worn-out licence: duplicate and exchange#

A lost licence is replaced by one marked «Дублікат» (Duplicate), on the holder's application and explanation, after a check that the licence was issued to them (item 28 of the Regulation). If it was stolen or destroyed in a natural disaster and documents confirm this, no exams are taken; for other cases, ask the service's body. The current Regulation does not require a newspaper notice, although some regional pages still mention one.

Under Diia service card 01667, the State Service's territorial body issues a duplicate free of charge within a month; the application is filed in person. You need the application and explanation, copies of your passport and taxpayer card, two 3 × 4 cm photos, a medical certificate and, if needed, a document on the theft or natural disaster and a document on your training.

A licence that can no longer be used is exchanged without exams (items 25, 26), and the old one is withdrawn when the new one is issued (item 14).

Fine for driving a tractor without a licence#

For articles 121-126 of the КУпАП, tractors and other self-propelled machines are vehicles (note to art. 121). As of November 2026, with the minimum at 17 UAH (item 5 of subsection 1 of section XX of the Tax Code):

• driving a machine without the right, or handing the controls to someone without it: 200 minimums, 3 400 UAH (art. 126 part 2);
• repeated within a year: 2 400 minimums, 40 800 UAH, loss of driving rights for 5-7 years, with or without paid seizure of the machine (art. 126 part 5);
• licence or registration document not carried or shown: 25 minimums, 425 UAH (art. 126 part 1).

Parts 1 and 2 do not apply to people learning to drive in the established way. The driver must carry a licence of the required category and the registration document (item 2.1 of the Road Rules), and tractors stay off motorways and roads for cars (item 27.2). The State Labour Service (Держпраці) reminds employers that only a holder of the required category may work as a tractor driver.

What gets written wrong about the tractor-driver licence#

• <strong>"A B or C licence is enough".</strong> B gives no right; C1, C, D1 and D give it only for wartime.
• <strong>"B is for tracked tractors, C for combines".</strong> Tracked tractors belong to A1 or A2, combines to B1-B3, and C covers road-building machines.
• <strong>"A mini tractor needs no licence on your own plot".</strong> There is no exemption.
• <strong>"Check the licence online".</strong> As of November 2026 there is no such service.
• <strong>"Old licences must be exchanged".</strong> They have no expiry.
• <strong>"Fail the exam, lose your licence".</strong> That was so until 10.11.2026.
• <strong>"The licence is in Diia".</strong> As of November 2026, no.
• <strong>"The requirements depend on the oblast".</strong> One Regulation covers the whole country (item 1).

How we checked: on 11.11.2026 the rules were compared with the official texts of the acts in force, and the start of Resolution No. 1372 was confirmed by its publication in Uriadovyi Kurier No. 238. ADAM's catalogue was counted twice. The article describes Ukraine's rules; Russia and Kazakhstan have others. The text was prepared with the help of AI. Last checked: 11.11.2026.