(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine’s central bank is seeking to rename the smallest denomination of the national currency from the kopiyka to the shah, abandoning a term which it says too strongly resembles Russia’s kopek.
With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine into a third year, the change will help the country remove symbolic ties with its eastern neighbor, Governor Andriy Pyshnyi said in a statement Monday. The kopek was used during the Russian Empire and Soviet era.
“We came to the undeniable conclusion that kopiyka as the name for the small coin is effectively a symbol of Moscow’s occupation,” Pyshnyi said.
Changing the denomination’s name won’t influence inflation, as the move won’t increase the amount of cash circulating in the economy, the central bank said. The hryvnia has been significantly devalued and small coins are barely used in daily life, making this a purely symbolic gesture.
The first recorded use of the term shah came in the 16th century, before the Russian imperial conquest of Ukraine. It was also a currency denomination during Ukraine’s brief period of independence after the First World War.
The central bank’s initiative will have to be approved by parliament before minting new shah coins can start, according to the statement. If passed, new coins can be exchanged for old ones of the same face value. The kopiyka will remain in circulation alongside the shah upon its introduction.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
