Monetary reform in Ukraine: National Bank appeals to the Parliament with a request

11 October 18:25

The National Bank of Ukraine appealed to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk to support the initiative to to rename the coins from “kopiyka” to “shag”. The relevant document was published on his Telegram channel, according to Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada’s Tax Committee, Komersant UkrainianKomersant Ukrainian reports.

“The reform, which is now unstoppable,” Hetmantsev signed a screenshot of the document.


In the appeal, the NBU representatives ask the Speaker of the Parliament to initiate the submission of the draft laws developed by the National Bank to the Parliament.

“We will be grateful for your personal assistance in restoring historical justice and cleansing Ukraine’s monetary sovereignty of any affinity with Moscow. We are confident that together we will be able to return to Ukraine the unjustly forgotten, indigenous Ukrainian name for the shag coin and pass on to our descendants an original monetary system that is truly independent of Russian influence,” the document reads.

How the NBU explains the need for monetary reform

The National Financial Regulator explains that today the Ukrainian people are regaining everything that was unjustly stolen from them and mutilated by the Kremlin’s narratives. The revival of the hryvnia in the monetary circulation of independent Ukraine will allow us to break the last ties that connect the Ukrainian national currency with the aggressor country and finally complete the monetary reform. In fact, it was planned to do so back in the early 1990s, when the designs for the shag coin were created and the first experimental samples of such coins were minted.

“Today, the Ukrainian people are reclaiming everything that was unjustly stolen from them and mutilated by the Kremlin’s narratives. The revival of the shah in the monetary circulation of independent Ukraine will allow us to break the last ties that connect the Ukrainian national currency with the aggressor country and finally complete the monetary reform. In fact, it was planned to do so back in the early 1990s, when sketches of the shag coin were created and the first experimental samples of such coins were minted,” the NBU said.

They add that the national financial regulator announced this state initiative after a thorough study of the national traditions and history of money circulation in Ukraine. As a result, together with recognised experts in the fields of history, numismatics, banking, art history, archaeology and linguistics, the experts came to the undisputed conclusion that the name of the change coin, such as “kopiyka”, is alien to our country and is in fact a symbol of the Russian occupation of Ukraine for at least the last three centuries. At the same time, the return to the
to the Ukrainian name “shah” will help revive national traditions in the denomination of money.

How much money will be spent on the new monetary reform

The NBU assured that the adoption of such legislative changes does not imply additional costs, including production or organisational and technical costs, on the part of the National Bank. The minting of retail Ukrainian hryvnias will not involve the immediate withdrawal of kopiykas in circulation, and therefore, provided that a sufficient transition period is planned, will not cause any disturbances on the part of households or businesses.

It is already known that the NBU plans to mint 20 million coins with the new design and name “shag” in 2025.

Мандровська Олександра
Editor