Fake currency surge: fake money in Ukraine up 62% compared to 2023
Source: Minfin
Ukraine is dealing with a rise in counterfeit money, with both hryvnia and foreign banknotes being affected.
Over the last 6 months, 4 banknotes out of 1 million were forged, which marks a staggering 62% increase compared to 2023.
The trajectory is definitely negative as the year of 2022 saw just 2.2 counterfeits per million, while this number in 2023 stood at 2.1.
The National Bank of Ukraine said there had been a brief spike in counterfeiting activity in April and May this year as money forgers were obviously ‘adapting to wartime conditions’.
Ukrainian bankers though play down the issue arguing the pre-war counterfeiting rate stood at 7.1 counterfeit banknotes per million. considers it moderate, as before the full-scale invasion, the rate was 7.1 counterfeits per million.
Unsurprisingly, 95% of the counterfeit foreign currency seized in Ukraine were US dollars with $100 note being the most frequently counterfeited denomination. When it comes to hryvnas, counterfeiters prefer to defraud Ukrainians with 200 and 500 hryvna banknotes.
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In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
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Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.