UINP Chairman Alferov supports renaming 'kopiikas' to 'shags'
The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINP), Oleksandr Alferov, has said that the name of the unit of exchange "shag" has been used in the territory of present-day Ukraine since the 17th century and was specifically Ukrainian. "The name 'kopiika' (kopeck) originated in Moscow in the 16th century. Both then and now, it denotes a purely ruble zone, and now, in addition to Russia, it includes Belarus, the separatist Russian entity of Transnistria, and temporarily occupied Ukrainian lands. The kopeck accidentally became a currency coin for our hryvnia, which was, is, and remains a marker of our identity both in the Middle Ages and during the times of the UNR. More than 100 years ago, the hryvnia had a unit of exchange "shag," a name that has been used in our territory since the 17th century and was specifically Ukrainian and remained so even during the time of Ukraine's enslavement by empires," the UINP press service quotes Alferov.
It is noted that positive expert opinions on such an initiative were provided by the Institute of History of Ukraine and the O. Potebnia Institute of Linguistics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, as well as the Expert Commission of the Institute of National Memory.
As reported, the people's deputies propose to the Verkhovna Rada to change the name of the coin "kopiika" to "shag." It is noted that changing the name of the coin "kopiika" (one hundredth of a hryvnia) to the historically justified "shag" will allow to revive the national traditions of Ukraine in the monetary nomenclature and complete the monetary reform started in 1996.
In September 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine initiated the change "kopecks" to "shags."
In January 2025, the UINP expert commission stated that the NBU's initiative to change the name of the coin deserves support.
Former head of the Ukrainian National Bank of Ukraine Anton Drobovych supports the NBU's initiative to change the name of the circulation coin from "kopiikas" to "shags."