The National Bank plans to mint the next circulation of 50-kopeck coins "in stages". The new coin will appear after the decision of the Verkhovna Rada. This was stated by the Chairman of the NBU Andriy Pyshny, in an interview with "Ukrainian radio«.
Pyshny recalled that on September 2 last year, the NBU officially initiated this discussion, which is based on in-depth scientific research.
"A whole expedition that confirmed that the specific Ukrainian name for a small coin, one hundredth of a fraction of the Ukrainian hryvnia, is shag. The corresponding decree about this was signed by the first president during the UNR. If the hryvnia is of princely origin, then shag has its origins from the times of the Hetmanate," - he said.
According to him, this is an absolutely natural and logical step.
"We are returning what is ours. Let's not forget that the kopeck remained only in Moscow, Minsk, and in the territories of Moldova temporarily occupied by Russia. This is what still unites monetary relations, even at the name level, after 30 years of our Independence." — added the head of the NBU.
Pyshny recalled that the remaining republics that were part of the former Soviet Union got rid of this.
"In 1992, we even minted the first trial batch of shag coins. They were supposed to become a full-fledged part of the Ukrainian hryvnia, but then we lacked the political will. If not now, then when? When will it be time to return what is yours?" he said.
Step costs
Pyshny reported that this will not entail any additional costs from the state budget.
"There will be no withdrawal of the coin that is in circulation. After the Verkhovna Rada adopts the relevant decision (and we really hope for this), the National Bank will stop minting kopecks and start minting a small specific Ukrainian coin - shagy. We received positive conclusions from the Institute of National Remembrance. We received absolute support from the Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Linguistics," — said the head of the NBU.
New coins
Pyshny stated that this will in no way affect the purchasing power of the hryvnia. According to him, there are currently 14 billion small coins in circulation with a denomination of 10 and 50 kopecks. And the National Bank, in order to maintain the appropriate circulation of the coin, must mint at least 20 million more each year, withdrawing the one that has lost the corresponding features and putting into circulation coins of the corresponding denomination.
"We are not minting a 10-kopeck coin, but we will have to mint 50-kopeck coins for some time. There are approximately 1,5 billion of them in circulation. And we want the next circulation, which we will have to mint, to be minted not in kopecks, but in shags," — he said.
This requires only a few changes to Ukrainian legislation. "We have already submitted relevant proposals to the parliament. Based on my dialogue with the leaders of the parliament, I feel that there is support," he added.
Coin design
Pyshny stated that the NBU is preparing the design of the coins. "We are thinking about it. I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. As soon as the parliament makes a decision, we will immediately begin the process of preparing the appropriate design. Already today, the creative community has responded so well to our initiative, we already have several sketches. We will approach this very responsibly and take a simply fantastic 50 steps," — he added.
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