Ukrainian citizens can exchange Hryvnia for Swedish krona

The Riksbank has signed an agreement with Forex to exchange the local currency of Ukrainian refugees, Hryvnia, into Swedish kronor.

The agreement means that Ukrainian refugees over 18 years of age, who are entitled to temporary protection in Sweden under the Temporary Protection Directive, can with effect from 15 June turn to Forex to exchange up to 10,000 Hryvnia to SEK. The exchange is made at a rate which is determined by the Ukrainian central bank, the National Bank of Ukraine.

The background to the agreement is that, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many Ukrainians have fled to other parts of Europe. For this reason, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) signed cash hryvnia exchange agreements with few European central banks to help Ukrainian refugees to exchange their hryvnia notes into local currency. The European Commission has therefore recently developed a standardised agreement that central banks can use with the NBU to facilitate the exchange of hryvnia for Ukrainian refugees, and which the Riksbank has also used.

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