AUB News

Renaming the kopeck coin to the shag will require virtually no expenditure from the state budget and has important historical and symbolic significance for Ukraine. This was stated by Andriy Dubas, President of the Association of Ukrainian Banks, on the Novyny.LIVE TV channel, commenting on the Verkhovna Rada's support for the relevant bill in its first reading.

According to him, the issue of possible costs is key in the current conditions of war.

"The first thing to pay attention to in this process is whether there are any costs to the state budget. Today, this is the main thing, because we must mobilize all funds to defend Ukraine. There are practically no costs for changing the coin from a kopeck to a shag," Andriy Dubas emphasized.

He explained that the National Bank of Ukraine already mints coins with a denomination of 50 kopecks, so the technical changes are minimal.

“The National Bank currently mints coins with a denomination of 50 kopecks. In fact, all that is needed is to order a new stencil or mold. The metal will be minted in any case, whether it says ‘50 kopecks’ or ‘50 steps,’” said the President of the AUB.

Andriy Dubas emphasized that the initiative has not only economic but also deep historical significance.

“This is a question of historical belonging to Ukraine and distancing ourselves from Soviet history. If the costs are minimal and the significance for our identity is important, then why not?” he said.

He also noted that the term “step” is authentic to Ukrainian history, as confirmed by scientific research.

“I would like to thank the National Bank, which conducted extensive consultations with scientists and historians. They showed that Taras Shevchenko and other Ukrainian figures used the term ‘shag’ rather than ‘kopiika’ in their letters and conversations,” Andriy Dubas emphasized.

According to him, any discomfort caused by the name change is a matter of habit.

“We are simply used to the word ‘kopeck’. But we always feel a little uncomfortable when our habits change. It was the same with the calendar and the date of Christmas celebrations,” he noted.

The AUB president emphasized that rejecting the Soviet legacy is a conscious choice of Ukrainian society.

“The Soviet Union and Russia tore us away from many of our own traditions. We must return to them, just as we returned to the calendar that the entire civilized world lives by,” Andriy Dubas stressed.

Commenting on the practical implementation of the decision, he noted that a separate transition period may not be necessary.

“The National Bank may determine that 50 steps and 50 kopecks have the same denomination. Old coins will gradually be withdrawn from circulation and replaced by new ones,” he explained.

According to Andriy Dubas, after the bill is passed in the second reading and signed by the President of Ukraine, the new coins may appear in circulation in a fairly short time.

“I think we will see these coins very soon and will be able to use steps in the same way as our predecessors did before the Soviet period, finally putting an end to this story,” concluded the President of the AUB.