Ukraine's National Bank submits bills to change Russian-like coin name from kopiika to shah
National Bank of Ukraine governor Andriy Pyshnyy (facebook.com/pyshnyy)
The National Bank of Ukraine has submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a package of bills to change the name of the smallest currency unit (coin) from kopiika to shah, according to Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy.
The MP published an appeal from National Bank governor Andriy Pyshnyy addressed to parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.
He asks to support the initiative to rename the Ukrainian change coin from a “kopiika” to a “shah” to restore historical justice, break the last ties that connect the Ukrainian currency with the Russian one (kopek), and finally complete the monetary reform.
“As it was planned to do in the early 1990s, when sketches of the shah coin were already created and the first experimental samples of such coins were minted,” the appeal says.
Together with experts in history, numismatics, and archeology, the NBU concluded that the name “kopiika” has been a symbol of the Russian occupation of Ukraine for at least three centuries. And returning to the unique name “shah” will revive national traditions in the denomination of currency.
In this regard, a package of amendments to some laws and the Tax Code on changing the name of the coin was submitted to the parliament - Verkhovna Rada. As of the morning of October 11, they have not yet been published on the parliament's website.
If the bills are supported, shah will appear instead of kopiika. The already-minted coins will not be seized, they will remain in circulation along with the new ones. The adoption of the draft laws does not involve additional costs.
Earlier in September, the NBU proposed to abandon the name “kopiika” for the sake of historical justice and de-Russification.
Later, NBU governor Andriy Pyshnyy said that new coins - shahs - could appear as early as next year. The ratio with the kopiika will be 1:1.
