The National Bank of Ukraine will put a new 2,000-hryvnia banknote into circulation on September 4, releasing the country's highest denomination bill to date. The press service of the central bank announced the official issuance date on September 3.
Executed in purple-blue and pink tones, the banknote features a portrait and signature of poet and dissident Vasyl Stus on the front side. Central bank officials unveiled the design two months ahead of launch to allow commercial banks and financial institutions time to calibrate automated teller machines and self-service terminals, while giving businesses and the public an opportunity to inspect its security elements.
The regulator explained that changing economic conditions drove the creation of the new denomination, citing shifts in household incomes, price levels, cash circulation volumes, and public spending habits. Since the 1,000-hryvnia banknote was introduced seven years ago, average monthly salaries in Ukraine have tripled, while consumer prices based on the inflation index have doubled.
Central bank representatives noted that these shifting financial metrics increased the demand for larger paper bills. When the 1,000-hryvnia note first entered circulation, ten highest-denomination bills were sufficient to cover an average monthly salary, but by 2026 workers required more than 30 such bills to receive the same benchmark earnings.
Security features and new technology
The 2,000-hryvnia bill incorporates more than 20 distinct security elements designed to align with the modified 100, 200, 500, and 1,000-hryvnia notes issued between 2014 and 2019. It is the first banknote in the world to incorporate Anima Colour, a polychrome animated security thread that the thread manufacturer launched in late April 2026.
When handlers tilt the paper note, the animated thread displays a visual movement effect that transitions between Ukraine's national trident symbol and the official hryvnia sign. The trident, known as the Tryzub, serves as Ukraine's coat of arms, while the hryvnia has functioned as the national currency since replacing the post-Soviet karbovanets in 1996.
Commemorative date and counterfeiting trends
The central bank first announced plans for the new note on July 10 and selected September 4 as the official release date to mark the remembrance day of Vasyl Stus. Born in 1938, Stus was a prominent Ukrainian poet and member of the Sixtiers movement of writers who protested Soviet cultural suppression. He endured years of imprisonment for his political activism and defense of human rights before dying in a Soviet labor camp in 1985.
Central bank data shows that the 500-hryvnia banknote remains the most frequently counterfeited bill in Ukraine, followed by the 200-hryvnia note by a wide margin. Despite those ongoing risks, overall banknote counterfeiting across the country declined threefold during 2025.
