The National Bank of Ukraine, which initiated the switch last year, says it\u2019s aimed at \u201cpromoting de-Russification\u201d amid Moscow\u2019s war on Ukraine, approaching its fifth year since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kopek is a piece of Moscow that remains in our pockets, on our price tags, and most importantly, in our heads,\u201d National Bank chief Andriy Pyshniy was quoted<\/strong><\/a> as saying in August.<\/p>\n The kopiyka is one-hundredth of a hryvnya, the national currency since 1996, five years after Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n The proposed switch is part of broader efforts to replace terms, symbols, and institutions that reflect Russian influence or the Soviet legacy and, proponents say, to strengthen Ukrainian linguistic and cultural identity.<\/p>\n It appears likely to pass, as its sponsors include Rada speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, who is from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s Servant of the People party.<\/p>\n The headquarters of Ukraine’s parliament, Verkhovna Rada.<\/p>\n An explanatory note to the bill<\/strong><\/a>, published on October 1, says that \u201ceven 34 years after the declaration of independence, there is a denominator that still ties our country with Russia — this is the name of the circulating coin the \u2018kopek.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The note points out that among the 15 former Soviet republics, the term kopek is still used only in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, as well as in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdniester. It described the latter three as \u201chostile to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n “In the context of large-scale Russian aggression, replacing the kopek with the shah is an important and necessary step,\u201d the note said.<\/p>\n “Having studied the history of monetary circulation in Ukraine, we have come to the indisputable conclusion that such a name for a circulating coin as a ‘kopeck’ is actually a symbol of occupation by Moscow,\u201d National Bank chief Pyshniy said in September 2024, when the bank called for the change.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, the Ukrainian people are reclaiming everything that was unjustly stolen from them and mutilated by Kremlin narratives.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a specific term of our own — shah — a unique Ukrainian word that refers to small-denomination coins,” he said<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4C6A3DDC-7003-4BE8-BF68-F8741BFDE083_w250_r0_s.jpg\"\/)
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