“Droppings” under supervision: the Rada proposed to create a register of money mules – what will change
30 October 2025 21:46
On October 27, the Verkhovna Rada introduced Bill No. 14161, which provides for the creation of a register of “drops” – people who provide their bank accounts or cards for transferring other people’s money, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The initiators were MPs together with the National Bank of Ukraine, which joined the development of the document.
As MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak explained , up to 200 billion hryvnias go through schemes involving drops every year, of which the state loses tens of billions in tax revenues.
“This is the main financial artery of the shadow market, which is used to pay for illegal alcohol, gambling, and tobacco. In addition, drops are increasingly working for criminal call centers or drug traffickers,” Zheleznyak said.
What does the bill provide for?
The aim of the initiative is to create a unified legal mechanism for monitoring and controlling payment transactions that may be part of shadow schemes.
- The register of “drops” will be maintained by the National Bank of Ukraine.
- Payment companies and banks will be obliged to report data on suspicious accounts.
- Persons included in the register will be subject to restrictions, including the number of accounts in a bank and transaction limits.
- The information will be stored for three years after the last mention in the database.
“No one will immediately close accounts. On the contrary, a person will be informed that their card is being used by fraudsters,” Zheleznyak explained.
How drop schemes work
According to the explanatory note, drops often last for several months. The money is transferred in small amounts between related or unrelated accounts to disguise the illegal origin of the funds.
Such schemes involve both hired intermediaries and random citizens who agree to “help with transfers” for a small fee, not realizing that they are complicit in money laundering.
Background: how the NBU fights against “drops”
This is not the first attempt by the Ukrainian authorities to tighten control over financial schemes.
In October, the NBU proposed to complicate the procedure for closing individual entrepreneurs to prevent them from being used in shadow transfers.
At the same time, according to the NBU, the segment of P2P transfers (transfers between cards of individuals) has decreased after the introduction of limits, but the use of drops is still significant.
Fighting shadow schemes
According to analysts, the shadow turnover of funds through drops has become one of the key challenges to the country’s financial security.
The introduction of the registry should help identify participants in such schemes and stop their activities before they are abused.
However, experts warn that excessive expansion of banks’ powers can create risks for bona fide users if there are no clear criteria for who is included in the register.
Draft Law No. 14161 is pending consideration by the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada. If it is adopted, the registry could be launched as early as 2026 after the technical base is created and the rules for entering data are approved.
