The issuance of a 2,000-hryvnia bill will fuel inflation and devaluation — Novak
27 July 20:11
YOUTUBE
Andriy Novak, chairman of the Committee of Economists of Ukraine, sharply criticized the National Bank of Ukraine’s initiative to introduce a 2,000-hryvnia banknote. In his view, this decision has no economic justification and poses serious risks to the country’s financial stability. He made these remarks in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
The economist believes that issuing a 2,000-hryvnia banknote is premature. According to him, such decisions are usually made when a currency is rapidly depreciating, but Ukraine’s current economic indicators do not warrant this.
“When a country issues a higher denomination of its currency, it means that it is devaluing that currency. Now the question is: do we currently have financial and economic grounds for issuing higher-denomination banknotes? Are we experiencing some kind of hyperinflation right now, like in Venezuela? Or do we have high inflation rates? We currently have moderate inflation, around 7–8%. That is not high inflation even in peacetime, let alone for a country at war,” Novak explains.
Novak emphasized that one of the National Bank’s main tasks is to curb inflation and ensure the stability of the hryvnia.
“The role of the National Bank of Ukraine is to do everything possible—and even the impossible—to curb inflation and ensure exchange rate stability. And if the regulator itself issues higher-denomination banknotes without justification, it thereby deals a double blow. It fuels inflation and it fuels the devaluation of the hryvnia,” he adds.
The economist also noted that the 1,000-hryvnia bill is used relatively rarely by Ukrainians, and therefore the need for a 2,000-hryvnia bill appears unfounded.
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For comparison, he cited the practices in the U.S. and the eurozone, where the ratio between the minimum wage and the highest-denomination banknote differs significantly from the proposed Ukrainian model.
“In the U.S., the federal minimum wage is about 1,500 dollars, and the largest bill is 100 dollars. In the eurozone, the minimum wage is about 2,000 euros, and the largest bill is 200 euros. In Ukraine, the minimum wage is 8,600 hryvnias. If there were a 2,000-hryvnia bill, it would take just four bills to pay the minimum wage. “If we follow that logic, let’s just issue a 10,000-hryvnia bill right away and pay the minimum wage with a single bill,” he says.
According to Novak, the mere appearance of information about the possible issuance of a new banknote may have already influenced the public’s inflation expectations.
“This initiative emerged just a month ago, and already the State Statistics Service has recorded an increase in the inflation rate. This is also one of the consequences of this provocation,” Novak adds.
The economist called the National Bank’s decision a “financial provocation” and stated that it requires political and legal scrutiny.
“With this plan to issue a 2,000-hryvnia banknote, the National Bank of Ukraine is carrying out a financial provocation within Ukraine, which is causing a double negative impact—a higher inflation rate and the devaluation of the hryvnia,” he concluded.
As a reminder, on July 10, 2026, Andriy Pyshnyy, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, announced the introduction of a new 2,000-hryvnia banknote. It is scheduled to enter circulation on September 4, 2026.
The new banknote will feature Ukrainian poet, dissident, and human rights activist Vasyl Stus.
The NBU explained that the decision is intended to honor his contribution to the struggle for Ukraine’s freedom and independence, and emphasized that the highest denomination of the national currency should symbolize the country’s history, values, and spiritual heritage.
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