Марія Бровінська Money 6 August 2025, 10:15

"Businesses that support the Defense Forces will be able to transfer funds above the import limit." NBU eases currency restrictions for businesses: what will change

The National Bank of Ukraine is easing a number of currency restrictions. The new currency liberalization package is designed to provide businesses with incentives and opportunities without creating significant additional demand in the Ukrainian currency market. Almost all changes will come into effect on August 6, 2025. The exception is the permission to return funds mistakenly transferred from abroad in foreign currency, which will come into effect on August 7, 2025.

Businesses will be able to repatriate dividends for 2023

The NBU will allow companies to repatriate dividends for 2023 within the general limit, which will continue to be 1 million euros in equivalent per month. Thus, businesses will have the opportunity to partially repatriate dividends for the period of activity that began on January 1, 2023 (and not January 1, 2024, as is the case now).

Opportunities for hedging currency risks are expanding

The NBU continues to implement measures from the Conceptual Note on determining approaches, conditions and deadlines for restoring the functioning of the currency derivatives market, prepared within the framework of the program with the IMF.

Firstly, clients will have the opportunity to carry out transactions with banks to sell foreign currency for hryvnia on «forward» terms without delivering the underlying asset (currently, such transactions can only be made with the delivery of the underlying asset).

Secondly, resident clients (legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) will have the opportunity to purchase foreign currency from banks on «forward» terms with the delivery of the underlying asset to hedge the risk of foreign currency exchange rate changes on transactions for the import of goods. The bank will be able to conduct such transactions only within the volume of foreign currency that it will purchase on «forward» terms from other clients (both with the delivery of the underlying asset and without delivery), so these changes will not put pressure on the foreign exchange market.

Changes are being made to foreign currency transfers abroad to increase trust in entities from Ukraine

First, the NBU will allow legal entities and individuals to return erroneously transferred funds in foreign currency that were credited to customer accounts. An application for a refund must be submitted within three business days from the date of receipt of a notification of an erroneous transfer of funds to the bank from a non-resident bank. This should contribute to increasing trust in Ukraine from non-residents and compliance with payment legislation.

Secondly, resident maritime agents will have the opportunity to transfer funds abroad to return unused foreign currency funds received from non-resident shipowners or other principals. This will facilitate the fulfillment of contractual obligations by maritime agents, who play a key role in coordinating activities related to servicing foreign vessels in Ukrainian ports, without putting pressure on the foreign exchange market.

Steps are being taken to support the domestic jewelry industry

The NBU continues to create conditions for transparent activities of domestic enterprises in the jewelry industry, taking into account, in particular, the increase in demand for products in this industry. To this end, the NBU will allow legal entities and individual entrepreneurs engaged in economic activities in the field of jewelry sales to purchase bank metals for non-cash hryvnias, subject to compliance with a number of conditions.

In particular, it is stipulated that:

the volume of purchases of banking metals in hryvnia equivalent per calendar month should not exceed 1/12 of the total annual volume of jewelry sold by the enterprise in retail trade for 2021;
The basis for purchasing bank metals is the existence of an agreement on their transfer to the jewelry manufacturer, as well as documents confirming the fact of the transfer of purchased bank metals in previous periods.

Approaches to regulating external loans are being unified

The changes apply to loans provided by a pool of foreign lenders that includes an international financial institution (IFI). Enterprises will be able to service and repay such loans not only to the benefit of the IFI, but also to the benefit of other members of the credit pool, if they are first-class foreign banks with a rating of at least «A».

In addition, it is envisaged to grant permission to transfer funds from Ukraine to satisfy recourse claims of foreign guarantors, sureties and insurers who have already paid the obligations of the resident borrower under such loans.

Similar approaches are already being applied to loans obtained with the participation of foreign export credit agencies. Extending them to loans provided with the participation of MFIs will require finding partners and structuring such loans.

NBU continues to implement stimulating currency liberalization

Firstly, the list of operations that resident legal entities can carry out beyond the established restrictions within the investment limit is being expanded — the repatriation of dividends will be added to them. Recall that, having started the implementation of stimulating liberalization in May 2025, the NBU determined that the investment limit is equal to the amount of funds attracted from May 12, 2025 to the authorized capital of the enterprise from foreign investors from abroad in foreign currency.

Secondly, incentives will be provided to businesses that support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The NBU will allow resident legal entities to make a number of cross-border transfers above the established limits within the amount equivalent to the amounts of funds transferred by them from August 7, 2025 in national or foreign currency to a special NBU account for collecting funds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

It is envisaged that such transfers may be made exclusively at the expense of the business’s own currency for the following purposes:

resident’s payment for the import of goods delivered before February 23, 2021;
refund to a non-resident of the advance payment received by a resident to his current account in a bank in Ukraine by February 23, 2022 under a contract for the purchase and sale of goods concluded with a non-resident (for transactions in which the delivery of goods from Ukraine did not take place or was only partially taken place);
fulfillment of obligations under a loan received before June 20, 2023 from a non-resident under a loan agreement concluded between them;
financing by a resident of the costs of maintaining its branches, representative offices and other separate units without creating a legal entity abroad;
repatriation of dividends in favor of a non-resident on corporate rights or shares.

Thirdly, conditions are created for the conversion of the debt of a resident borrower under an external loan into a non-resident’s contribution to the authorized capital of this resident. In the event of such conversion, banks will be able to reflect in the AIS «Credit agreements with non-residents» the fact of a reduction in the term of fulfillment of obligations under external loan agreements.

Updated NBU currency restrictions come into effect from February 21, 2024: what businesses should know