On 25 December 2015, the National Bank of Ukraine presented the revamped, 2015 design 500 hryvnia bill with enhanced security features. This banknote has been designed as part of the continued efforts to revamp the design of the previous banknote series. 

NBU Deputy Governor Yakiv Smolii said that back in 2012 the NBU launched a project to revamp the design of the banknote series designed between 2003 and 2007 as part of the 2013-2018 Strategic Program of Cash Circulation Improvement.

He said that the new 2015 design 500 hryvnia bill would be put into circulation on 11 April 2016 as part of the 2016 plan.

“As of 1 December 2015, there were 237 million pieces of 500 hryvnia banknotes in circulation.  The worn-out, damaged 2006 design 500 hryvnia banknotes that are currently in circulation will be replaced with new banknotes by the NBU.

The 2015 design 500 hryvnia banknote is a legal tender in the territory of Ukraine and shall be accepted at its face value by all natural persons and legal entities without any limitation throughout the entire territory of Ukraine.

“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the 2006 and 2015 design banknotes will be in parallel circulation.  Following the entry into circulation of the new 500 hryvnia banknotes, there will be no need for citizens to exchange the banknotes from 2006 for the new ones. As a matter of course, the new 500 hryvnia banknotes will replace the worn-out banknotes that will be taken out of circulation,” underlined Mr Smolii.

According to Mr Smolii, the replacement of banknotes will take place in a gradual manner. In general, the NBU withdraws about 900 million pieces of worn-out banknotes of all denominations from circulation annually. Banknotes of lower denominations (1-20 hryvnia banknotes) account for the largest portion (70%) of the total amount of withdrawn banknotes.

“The main reason behind the need to revamp the design of the banknote series is to enhance their security features. In accordance with European standards and practices, it is necessary to redesign banknotes from time to time to minimize or eliminate the chances of banknote counterfeiting. Not only do we redesign our banknotes, but we also enhance their security features,” explained Mr Smolii.

He pointed out that the appropriate security level of banknotes is one of the factors crucial to ensuring public confidence in the domestic currency, which is of utmost importance to the NBU.

“When working on the creation of the new 500 hryvnia banknote, the NBU applied cutting-edge design and security technologies.  I hope that Ukrainians will commend the results of our endeavors and will like the upgraded banknotes,” summarized Mr Smolii.

Head of the Office for Money and Securities Production and Protection Arrangement of the NBU Cash Circulation Department Volodymyr Tyshchenko dwelled on how the design of the 500 hryvnia banknote had changed and provided details of the security features incorporated in the banknote.

The predominant beige color of the new 2015 design 500 hryvnia banknote is supported by tinted banknote paper. The new banknote retains the same size as the 2006 design 500 hryvnia banknote,” said Mr Tyshchenko. “The core design elements of the front and reverse sides of the banknote also remain largely the same. The color and size of the banknote make it easily distinguishable from other denominations, which helps users to recognize the banknote.”

Mr Tyshchenko said that some elements of the banknote’s design had undergone major changes. Furthermore, a window security thread and optically-variable SPARK element have been incorporated in the banknote.  “These two security features, which are also incorporated in the 2014 design 100 hryvnia banknote, will enhance the security against counterfeiting and help cash users to identify genuine banknotes,” he added.

Detailed information on the security features of the 2015 design 500 hryvnia banknote will be posted on the NBU’s website on 30 December 2015.