The NBU has been taking steps to ease a number of FX restrictions. The new FX-liberalization package is designed to give businesses incentives and opportunities without generating tangible additional demand in Ukraine’s FX market. The NBU’s revised forecast, projecting that international reserves will be maintained at a sufficient level to support the FX market’s sustainability, already incorporates the newly adopted FX-liberalization measures.
Almost all of the changes are effective 6 August 2025. The only measure that takes effect on 7 August 2025 is permission to send abroad FX funds transferred to Ukraine by mistake.
First – Businesses will be able to repatriate 2023 dividends
The NBU will allow companies to send abroad 2023 dividends, subject to an overall per-month limit equivalent to EUR 1 million, a cap that remains unchanged. Businesses will therefore have the chance to repatriate part of their dividends earned since 1 January 2023 (pushing the date forward from 1 January 2024, which has been in effect up until now).
The NBU estimates that this will help reinforce international investors’ confidence in Ukraine and attract new foreign investment without sparking significant additional demand for foreign exchange, as the general limit is still in place. Businesses will also be able to use the repatriated FX dividends for other purposes, including to repay debt.
Second – FX-risk hedging opportunities increase
The NBU continues to implement measures outlined in the Concept Note On Defining Approaches, Conditions, and Timelines for Restoring the Functionality of the Foreign-Exchange Derivatives Market drafted as part of the IMF program.
Customers will now be able to make non-deliverable forward (NDF) transactions with banks to sell foreign exchange for hryvnias (free from a current requirement that mandates delivery of the underlying currency).
In addition, resident customers (legal persons and sole proprietors) will be allowed to buy foreign exchange from banks by making forward transactions where the currencies are physically delivered, in order to hedge the FX risk of merchandise imports. For banks, the volume of such operations will be limited by how much foreign exchange a bank manages to purchase on forward terms from other customers (through both NDFs and physical-delivery forwards), meaning that these changes will put no pressure on the FX market.
Third – Changes that apply to FX transfers abroad are intended to enhance the credibility of Ukrainian-based entities
The NBU will permit legal persons and individuals to return FX funds that have mistakenly been wired from abroad into Ukrainian customer accounts. A refund application must be filed within three business days from the date the resident bank receives from the non-resident bank a notice of erroneous transfer. This change is aimed at helping build up non-residents’ confidence in Ukraine and meet payment legislation requirements.
What is more, resident maritime agents will be able to return abroad unused FX funds received from non-resident ship owners or other assignors. While not putting any strain on the FX market, this will facilitate the fulfillment of contractual obligations by maritime agents that play a key role in coordinating the servicing of foreign vessels in Ukrainian ports.
Fourth – Steps are being taken to support the domestic jewelry sector
The NBU continues to pave the way for the transparent operation of domestic jewelry enterprises, considering the growth in demand for such products, among other things. To this end, the NBU will allow legal persons and sole proprietors in the jewelry sales business to purchase investment metals for cashless hryvnias, subject to a number of conditions, including:
- that the hryvnia equivalent of per-month purchases of investment metals be no higher than one-twelfth of the enterprise’s retail jewelry sales in 2021
- that purchases of investment metals be based on an agreement to transfer them to the jewelry manufacturer, as well as on documents confirming transfers of investment metals purchased in previous periods.
These changes should bolster the domestic production of jewelry and assist in bringing this market out of the shadow. Pressure on the FX market will be limited, as official purchases of investment metals will reduce the size of the gray market.
Fifth – Approaches to regulating external loans are being unified
The changes apply to loans issued by a pool of foreign lenders that includes an international financial institution (IFI). Companies will be able to service and repay such loans not only to the IFI, but also to other participants in the pool, provided they are first-class foreign banks rated at least "A".
Furthermore, permission will be granted to make transfers from Ukraine to satisfy recourse claims of foreign guarantors, surety providers, and insurers that have repaid a resident borrower’s debt on such loans.
Similar approaches are already being applied to loans taken out with the involvement of foreign export credit agencies. Extending these approaches to loans issued with the participation of IFIs will make it easier to find partners and to structure such loans.
Sixth – The NBU continues to implement a stimulating FX liberalization
The list of transactions that a resident legal person can carry out beyond existing restrictions but within its investment limit is being expanded to include repatriation of dividends. Please be reminded that when launching the stimulating FX liberalization in May 2025, the NBU determined that a company’s investment limit is equal to the amount of FX funds the company has attracted since 12 May 2025 into its authorized capital from foreign investors from abroad.
In another change, incentives will be provided to businesses that support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The NBU will permit resident legal persons to make a range of cross-border transfers above established caps, as long as the transferred sum is equivalent to hryvnia and FX funds that such entities have sent since 7 August 2025 into the NBU’s account for donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Such transfers are to be made exclusively at the expense of residents’ own foreign exchange, for the following purposes:
- for a resident to pay for imported goods delivered before 23 February 2021
- to refund to a non-resident an advance payment received by a resident into their current account with a bank in Ukraine prior to 23 February 2022 under an agreement to purchase goods concluded with the non-resident (for transactions where delivery of merchandise from Ukraine did not take place or was only partially carried out)
- to meet commitments under a loan taken out by a resident from a non-resident before 20 June 2023 under a loan agreement between them
- for a resident to pay the cost of maintaining their branches, representative offices, and other standalone units without setting up a legal person abroad
- to repatriate dividends on corporate rights or shares for a non-resident’s benefit.
And last but not least, groundwork is being laid to make it possible for a resident borrower to convert their debt on an external loan into a non-resident’s contribution to the resident’s authorized capital. If such conversion takes place, banks will be able to reflect in the automated information system Loan Agreements with Nonresidents the fact that the term of fulfillment of obligations under external loan agreements has been reduced.
These and other clarifying changes were made by NBU Board Resolution No. 95 On Amending NBU Board Resolution No. 18 dated 24 February 2022. Resolution No. 95 is effective 6 August 2025.