On 30 May 2022, the NBU and the National Bank of Belgium signed an agreement that will allow the Ukrainians staying in Belgium to exchange cash hryvnias for euros (hereinafter the Agreement).
The Agreement stipulates two mechanisms that will enable adult Ukrainians with a displaced person status, or those in the process of applying for such a status, to exchange up to UAH 10,000 in cash, effective 1 June 2022.
First, there will be an option to exchange hryvnias for cash euros at the National Bank of Belgium (Boulevard de Berlaimont 3, 1000 Brussels). This will only be a one-time transaction, within the established limit. This service will be available on weekdays, between 08:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Second, it will be possible to deposit cash hryvnias, within the established limit, into an account previously opened by the client with a branch of the following commercial banks: Belfius, Beobank, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, KBC, CBC, and KBC Brussels. These banks will convert the received cash hryvnias into a euro equivalent, which they will immediately credit to the client’s account. This means that an actual physical exchange of cash at the participating banks’ branches will not take place. It should also be noted that the banks will not charge a commission or additional payments for these transactions.
Under the Agreement, the Belgian banks will accept banknotes with a face value of 100 to 1,000 hryvnias (lower denomination banknotes and coins will not be accepted).
The exchange will be based on a fixed exchange rate of the hryvnia against the euro that will be set by the NBU. Exchange rate information will be published weekly on the websites of the National Bank of Belgium and the the Belgian banking association (Febelfin).
“The Agreement with the National Bank of Belgium is another step by the NBU that aims to support and assist the citizens of Ukraine who have been forced to leave Ukraine as they fled the war. We are sincerely grateful to our Belgian colleagues for helping the Ukrainians exchange their cash hryvnias while in the EU,” said NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko.
As previously reported, since the start of the war, the NBU has already signed cash hryvnia exchange agreements with Narodowy Bank Polski and Germany’s Deutsche Bundesbank and Federal Ministry of Finance.
The NBU is currently in active talks with the central banks of other partner countries to enable Ukrainian displaced persons to exchange cash hryvnias for local currencies, within established limits, and enjoy the uninterrupted servicing of their Ukrainian-issued payment cards.