Changes in Rules for Money Transfers and Dividend Payments Abroad – NBU Eases Currency Restrictions

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has eased a number of currency restrictions. The new package of currency liberalization measures was established by the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine Resolution No. 95 dated August 5, 2025, aiming to provide businesses with incentives and opportunities without creating significant additional demand in Ukraine’s currency market. Almost all changes came into effect on August 6, except for the provision allowing the return of mistakenly transferred funds from abroad in foreign currency, which will take effect on August 7, 2025.

First – the NBU has enabled companies to transfer abroad dividends for 2023 within the overall limit, which remains at €1 million equivalent per month. This means businesses will now be able to partially repatriate dividends for the period starting from January 1, 2023 (and not from January 1, 2024, as it is currently).

Second – the possibilities for hedging currency risks are expanding. First, clients will be able to conduct forward transactions with banks to sell foreign currency for hryvnias without delivery of the underlying asset (currently, such transactions can only be done with delivery of the underlying asset).

Second, resident clients (legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) will be able to purchase foreign currency from banks under forward contracts with delivery of the underlying asset to hedge against currency exchange rate fluctuations on import transactions. Banks will be able to conduct such operations only within the volume of foreign currency they purchase under forward contracts from other clients (with or without delivery of the underlying asset), so these changes will not put pressure on the currency market.

Third – changes are being introduced regarding foreign currency transfers abroad to increase trust in Ukrainian entities. First, the NBU will allow legal entities and individuals to return mistakenly transferred funds in foreign currency that were credited to clients’ accounts. The application for returning the funds must be submitted within three business days from the day the bank receives a notification of the mistaken transfer from the non-resident bank.

Second, resident maritime agents will be able to transfer funds abroad to return unused foreign currency received from non-resident shipowners or other principals.

Fourth – measures are being implemented to support the domestic jewelry industry. The NBU has allowed legal entities and individual entrepreneurs engaged in the sale of jewelry to purchase bank metals in non-cash hryvnias, subject to certain conditions.

Fifth – approaches to regulating external loans are being unified. The changes concern loans provided by a pool of foreign lenders that includes an international financial organization (IFO). Enterprises will be able to service and repay such loans not only to the IFO but also to other participants of the credit pool, provided they are first-class foreign banks with a rating not lower than “A.”

In addition, permission will be granted to transfer funds from Ukraine to satisfy recourse claims of foreign guarantors, sureties, and insurers who have already fulfilled the obligations of a resident borrower under such loans.

Sixth – the NBU continues to implement stimulus-based currency liberalization. First, the list of operations that resident legal entities can carry out beyond established restrictions within the investment limit is expanding – repatriation of dividends will be added. Previously, the NBU defined the investment limit as the sum of funds raised since May 12, 2025, in foreign currency from foreign investors for the company’s share capital.

Second, incentives will be provided to businesses supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The NBU will allow resident legal entities to make certain cross-border transfers beyond established limits within an amount equivalent to the funds they transferred from August 7, 2025, in national or foreign currency to a special NBU account for collecting funds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Third, conditions are being created for converting a resident borrower’s external loan debt into a contribution by a non-resident to the share capital of that resident.