A bill to change the name of Ukraine's circulation coin from “kopeck” to “shag” has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada. NBU Chairman Andriy Pyshnyy explained why the kopeck should be abandoned and when they can start minting a new shag coin.
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Ukrainian MPs support the bill, which has already been signed by the entire parliamentary leadership, and about 70 MPs have joined in. This was stated by Andriy Pyshny, the Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, in an interview with Forbes.
“I think discussions will continue in parliament: someone may make fun of this issue, there may be political manipulations. We are ready for this. But the fact is that the kopeck remains a small coin only in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. No other republic of the former Soviet Union has left such a mention of the Russian mark in its monetary circulation,” Andriy Pyshny noted.
According to him, abandoning the kopeck does not require additional costs. And after the adoption of the law, there will be no forced withdrawal of kopecks, and kopecks will be minted within the standard planned issue to maintain proper monetary circulation.
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“Every year, the NBU mints about 20 million coins with a denomination of 50 kopecks, as there is a certain demand for them from the retail network. I hope that next year, or even this year, we will mint shags. Because when else can there be a “right time” for such changes? Now is the best moment,” the NBU chairman noted.
It was previously reported that Professor of Ukrainian History Serhiy Plokhiy visited the National Bank and the Museum of Money. In his opinion, the Ukrainian shag should return to circulation instead of the “kopeck” coin, which has Russian roots.
Photo of the NBU press service
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