NBU to issue 2000 hryvnia banknote into circulation starting today
The National Bank of Ukraine is introducing a new 2000 hryvnia banknote into cash circulation from Friday, September 4 – the largest denomination in the history of the national currency. Starting today, banks can receive the new notes from the NBU and issue them to clients.
The new denomination was unveiled by the central bank back in July, so that banks, cash-in-transit companies and other cash market participants had time to adjust ATMs, payment terminals and banknote processing equipment. For the first stage of the launch, several million new banknotes are planned to be printed.
The NBU explained the need for the new denomination by the changes in the economy since the appearance of the 1000 hryvnia note in 2019. During this period, the average monthly salary in Ukraine has roughly tripled, and the price level has doubled. Cash in circulation has grown from nearly 390 billion hryvnias to over 970 billion hryvnias as of July 1, 2026.
At the same time, the share of 1000 hryvnia notes has already exceeded 55% of all cash by value. According to the regulator, such a structure of the banknote series indicates the need for a higher denomination.
The National Bank emphasizes that the introduction of the 2000 hryvnia note does not mean additional money issuance and will not by itself affect inflation or the foreign exchange market. The new notes will enter circulation in exchange for non-cash funds or banknotes of other denominations.
The regulator also expects savings in printing, transportation, cash-in-transit, storage and processing of cash: one 2000 hryvnia note can replace two 1000 hryvnia notes or four 500 hryvnia notes.
What the new 2000 hryvnia note looks like
The banknote is dedicated to the Ukrainian poet, human rights activist and dissident Vasyl Stus. His portrait is on the front side, and on the reverse is the building of the Philological Faculty of Donetsk National University, where Stus studied and which now bears his name.
The main color of the note is blue. It contains over 20 security features. Among them are an optically variable SPARK element and a new blue-yellow "windowed" security thread Anima Colour. When the note is tilted, an effect of movement appears on it, and the image of the Trident changes to the hryvnia sign.
According to the NBU, the 2000 hryvnia note has become the first banknote in the world to use the polychromatic animated security thread Anima Colour.
Why the banknote is being launched on September 4
The date of introduction of the new denomination was chosen by the National Bank because of its connection with Vasyl Stus. On September 4, 1965, during the premiere of the film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" at the Kyiv cinema "Ukraine", Stus, together with Vyacheslav Chornovil and Ivan Dzyuba, spoke out against mass political repressions of the Ukrainian intelligentsia.
Exactly 20 years later, on September 4, 1985, Vasyl Stus died in custody in a Soviet special regime labor camp.
Based on materials from: National Bank of Ukraine
