National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Andrii Pyshnyi announced the expansion of the nominal range of the national currency - from September 4, 2026, a new banknote with a face value of 2,000 hryvnia will be introduced into cash circulation.
This is announced in the NBU's statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
The banknote honors Vasyl Stus - a Ukrainian poet of the sixties, translator, publicist, prose writer, thinker, literary scholar, literary critic, human rights activist, political prisoner of the USSR, member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, one of the most active representatives of the Ukrainian dissident movement and fighter for Ukraine's independence in the 20th century, Hero of Ukraine (posthumously, 2005).
Since the introduction of the 1,000-hryvnia banknote seven years ago, the average monthly salary in Ukraine has tripled, and the price level based on the inflation index has doubled.
The NBU explains that this led to the need for more cash, because if after the introduction of the 1,000 hryvnia banknote, 10 banknotes of the highest denomination were enough to receive an average monthly salary in cash, then in 2026 more than 30 banknotes of 1,000 hryvnia will be needed for this.
In addition, the volume of cash in circulation has more than doubled - from almost UAH 390 billion in 2019 to over UAH 970 billion as of July 1, 2026.
The increased demand for cash was led, in particular, by wartime needs.
According to the NBU chairman, the stability of the financial system is ensured not only by the availability and uninterrupted operation of cashless infrastructure, but also by convenient access to protected cash.
For example, when residents of frontline communities have the opportunity to make payments even where there is no stable connection.
Currently, the share of banknotes with a denomination of 1,000 hryvnias in terms of amount has already exceeded 55%.
In global central banking practice, this indicates the need to introduce a banknote of a higher denomination.
That is, the National Bank took into account a set of factors that indicate that there is a need for more efficient servicing of cash circulation.
The 2,000 hryvnia banknote has enhanced security.
In terms of design, the new banknote follows the modified hryvnia banknotes of the 2014–2019 model.
In size and color, it is noticeably different from banknotes of other denominations, which will help the population easily determine the denomination.
The size of the new banknote is 75 x 166 mm.
The main color is blue.
The banknote's protection has also been enhanced: it contains over 20 security elements – both paper security and innovative printing security elements that reliably protect it from counterfeiting:
- an updated "window" security tape – a polymer tape in a blue-yellow color scheme partially inserted into the thickness of the paper, which has a pronounced combined optically variable effect that manifests itself when the banknote's angle changes;
- an optically variable SPARK element that has a kinetic effect. When the banknote's angle changes, gradual color transitions are observed in the image areas – from purple to golden-green.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, from March 2, 2026, banknotes in denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 hryvnias of 2003–2007 will be replaced with the corresponding circulation coins.
Their gradual withdrawal by Ukrainian banks, authorized banks and the National Bank began almost six years ago:
- from October 1, 2020 – banknotes in denominations of 1 and 2 hryvnia;
- from January 1, 2023 – banknotes in denominations of 5 and 10 hryvnia.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.