Ukraine to issue new 2,000-hryvnia note amid wartime inflation

Ukraine’s central bank will put a new 2,000-hryvnia banknote into circulation on September 4, giving the country its highest denomination as war continues to strain cash use and electronic payments. The blue note is worth about $45 at the National Bank of Ukraine’s official rate of 44.5155 to the dollar.

Governor Andriy Pyshnyi unveiled the design in the bank’s operational hall inside Kyiv’s heavily guarded government quarters. The note features Vasyl Stus, the Soviet-era Ukrainian poet and dissident.

Power cuts, banking interruptions and wider uncertainty have made cash more important for many households and businesses. A higher denomination reduces the number of notes needed for larger purchases and makes it simpler to move and store cash when electronic systems are unreliable. Pyshnyi said the economy changes, incomes and prices evolve, and “the volume of cash in circulation and payment behavior also shift over time.”

The hryvnia entered circulation during the monetary reform of September 2 to 16, 1996, and modernization of the banknote series has been underway since 2014. In 2019, the 1,000-hryvnia note was then Ukraine’s highest face-value banknote.

The central bank has been replacing older banknotes with newer versions in stages. It began gradually withdrawing old-design 50- and 200-hryvnia notes from November 1, 2024, and discontinued notes remain legal tender for a period, so people do not need to exchange them immediately. Newer-generation notes are more secure, better protected against counterfeiting, more convenient for cash payments and less costly to the state.

The NBU has already issued modified 100- and 200-hryvnia notes bearing the slogan “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!” The new 2,000-hryvnia bill carries the same pattern.