Ukraine's National Bank to withdraw 10-kopiika coin from circulation
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) announced it will begin gradually withdrawing 10-kopiika coins from circulation starting October 1, 2025, citing the coin's loss of practical use in cash transactions.
According to a statement published Tuesday on the NBU's website, approximately 5.5 billion small-denomination coins are currently in circulation, of which 4.1 billion are 10-kopiika coins and 1.4 billion are 50-kopiika coins.
"Each year, the National Bank must ensure the availability and circulation of small-denomination coins for banks and the trade and service sectors. In 2025, we plan to mint 20 million new 50-kopiika coins to meet the needs of the cash economy," the regulator noted.
The NBU explained that 10-kopiika coins have essentially lost their role in everyday transactions. In light of their declining utility, the regulator believes a gradual phase-out is warranted to reduce costs associated with minting, transporting, storing, and processing the coins.
Under the NBU's plan, minting of 10-kopiika coins will cease on October 1, 2025. Although they will remain legal tender until a separate decision is made, banks will no longer return them to circulation – they will be withdrawn and sent to the NBU for disposal.
Consumers will still be able to use 10-kopiika coins for purchases, and retailers may continue to issue them as change. However, in the absence of such coins, a rounding mechanism will apply.
The rounding system will function as follows: amounts ending in 1–24 kopiikas will be rounded down to the nearest 00, 25–49 kopiikas will be rounded up to 50, 51–74 kopiikas will be rounded down to 50, and 75–99 kopiikas will be rounded up to 00.
These rules apply solely to cash transactions and do not affect non-cash payments. The NBU stressed that past experience shows rounding has no effect on overall prices, as it applies to the total amount on a receipt rather than individual item prices.
"In non-cash transactions, rounding will not be applied – just as it hasn't been under the current rounding rules introduced in 2018, which round to the nearest 10 kopiikas. Experience shows that such rounding has a negligible impact on inflation, as it targets the total receipt amount, not the price of each item," the NBU added.
As reported, cash in circulation in Ukraine reached UAH 859.9 billion as of July 1, 2025 – an increase of UAH 37.5 billion, or 4.6%, since the beginning of the year.