The level of counterfeit banknotes in Ukraine decreased over the past year - NBU
Kyiv • UNN
The level of counterfeit banknotes in Ukraine decreased in 2023 to 2.1 counterfeits per million hryvnias, down from 2.2 in 2022, while in the EU, counterfeiting was almost eight times higher, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
Last year, there were 2.1 counterfeit banknotes for every million hryvnias, slightly less than in 2022. In the European Union, there were 16 counterfeit banknotes for every million euros, almost eight times more than in 2022. These statistics are provided by the National Bank of Ukraine , UNN reports.
Last year, there were about 2.1 counterfeit hryvnia banknotes for every 1 million genuine hryvnia banknotes (in 2022, there were about 2.2 banknotes.
Details
For comparison, the press service of the Ukrainian National Bank cited figures from the European Union. There , in 2023, there were almost eight times as many counterfeit banknotes per million euros as in 2022, which amounted to approximately 16 euro banknotes against 13 banknotes in the previous year.
In 2023, the most commonly counterfeited banknotes were old ones, especially those with denominations of 200, 500, and 100 hryvnias. Overall, 93% of all counterfeits were of these old banknotes. The most commonly counterfeited banknotes were those with a denomination of 200 hryvnias, followed by 500 hryvnia banknotes, and slightly less often 100 hryvnia banknotes.
Thus, the monitoring results for 2023 showed that only 18% of all counterfeits seized in the Ukrainian banking system were of the new hryvnia banknote design. This means that for every million genuine hryvnia banknotes of the new design, there were only 0.4 counterfeit banknotes.
Most of the counterfeit hryvnia banknotes withdrawn from circulation were of poor quality and were designed to target the inattentiveness of citizens and cashiers of retail establishments.
As for foreign currency, the level of counterfeiting was also low last year. Banks and financial institutions across Ukraine withdrew less than 700 counterfeit foreign banknotes from circulation (in 2022, about 600). Most of these were US dollars, accounting for 97% of all counterfeit foreign banknotes seized. Euro banknotes accounted for only 3% of all seized counterfeit foreign banknotes. The most commonly counterfeited banknotes were USD 100 and USD 50, as well as EUR 50 and EUR 200.
Recall
The National Bank of Ukraine sold $320.9 million on the interbank foreign exchange market over the week, which is half the amount of the week before, according to the NBU
