While on Wednesday the National Bank of Ukraine made titanic efforts on the interbank currency market to stop the rise of the non-cash dollar, all signs of growing panic and rush demand were observed on the cash currency market.
By the evening of Wednesday, October 28, the cash dollar was sold in wholesale exchange points of Kyiv at 46.50 UAH – 35 kopecks higher than the day before. Moreover, just today the dollar went up by 30 kopecks at the capital's wholesalers, since in the morning it could still be bought at 46.20 UAH.
In all regional centers the cash "American" was growing in price at a rapid pace, moving further away from 46.00 UAH. On Wednesday evening in Lviv, the dollar could be bought at a minimum of 46.35 UAH (15 kopecks more expensive than yesterday's price), in Odesa – at 46.50 UAH (45 kopecks more expensive), in Dnipro – at 46.60 UAH (35 kopecks more expensive), and in Kharkiv – at 46.67 UAH (plus 28 kopecks to yesterday's price). And these are prices for the 2001-2006 dollar series (the so-called "white dollar"). Banknotes of the new series were sold even more expensive.
Ukrainian banks also actively participated in the devaluation race, although the price tags on their boards have already begun to noticeably lag behind the prices at wholesalers. The cheapest dollar by the end of Wednesday was sold at 45.80 UAH in Oxi Bank and the Kyiv branch of Sky Bank (most likely, there were only numbers on the board), and the most expensive was in Accordbank – at 46.65 UAH. Many banks did not change the rates on their boards during the day, so by the evening they had no currency left for sale.
Despite the drop on the international currency market FOREX (today the euro fell to the mark of 1.11131 dollars), the selling rate of the euro is not declining in Ukraine. By the evening of today, the minimum selling price of the euro started from 51.15 UAH in the Kyiv branch of Sky Bank, and the most expensive euro – at 51.80 UAH – was sold in Accordbank and the International Investment Bank (IIB).
The gap between the cost of non-cash and cash dollar is growing. By the evening of Wednesday it grew to 1 hryvnia. This indicates the presence of a rush component of demand on the cash market, driving up the price of the dollar for the population.
