The National Bank of Ukraine has announced that the launch of the e-hryvnia, the digital version of the national currency, in 2027 is highly uncertain due to significant financial costs associated with the implementation of the project. The regulator considers it impractical to allocate large funds for such initiatives in the context of war.
This is reported by Business • Media
High Costs and Ethical Considerations
As noted by NBU Deputy Chairman Oleksiy Shaban, even the pilot launch of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) requires substantial investments. According to him, a shortlist of potential suppliers has been formed, with whom the bank plans to collaborate after the preparatory phase is completed. However, due to the state of war, the leadership of the National Bank considers it unacceptable to incur such expenses solely for research and testing of new financial technology.
“We are considering the digital hryvnia at the legislative level. It is meant to be a legal means of payment and simply a digital form of the national monetary unit – the hryvnia. Whether it will be implemented, or when it will be implemented, is an open question,” said Shaban.
Development Stages and Implementation Prospects
Work on creating the e-hryvnia is ongoing, and the project involves testing the digital currency not only within the NBU but also in real transactions – for making payments, money transfers, providing government services, and social programs. The e-hryvnia was first used in experimental mode back in 2018 for internal operations of NBU employees.
The project concept was presented to the public in November 2022. It envisions that the digital hryvnia will become a universal, legal means of payment for citizens, businesses, banks, government, and non-bank institutions, organically complementing the existing cash and non-cash hryvnia.
The second pilot project for the e-hryvnia was planned for 2024, but the launch was later postponed to 2025 due to changing priorities. In March 2025, the NBU confirmed its preparation for testing the central bank’s digital currency and the creation of a platform capable of ensuring the protection of users’ personal data at the level of banking secrecy.
Currently, the NBU emphasizes that the question of launching the e-hryvnia in 2027 remains open due to financial and ethical considerations arising from the ongoing war.