Ukraine is considering abandoning the USD as its reference currency

Reuters reports that the National Bank of Ukraine is considering a potential move away from pegging its currency to the US dollar and switching its reference currency to the euro.

The high probability of such a “transition” was confirmed to journalists by NBU Governor Andriy Pyshny. According to him, this decision is influenced by “future accession to the European Union, the strengthening of the EU’s role in ensuring our defense capabilities, high volatility in the global market, and the likelihood of fragmentation of world trade.”

Pyshny admits that changing the reference currency will require “complex and high-quality preparation.”

The dollar has been the dominant reserve currency in the world for years, but Donald Trump’s tariff policy has called this role into question. Moldova, which, like Ukraine, is currently awaiting the real start of negotiations on joining the EU, officially abandoned pegging its fiscal processes to the dollar on January 2, 2025, choosing the euro instead.