From May 10, 2025, the National Bank of Ukraine further restricted the ability of Ukrainians to make payments abroad from foreign currency accounts. The new restrictions affected eight categories of services at once, and now the total limit for spending on a foreign currency card in these areas is no more than 500 thousand hryvnias per month.
These restrictions were introduced by NBU Resolution No. 53 and apply to the following categories of payments:
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advertising services,
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consulting, PR, management,
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legal and accounting services,
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public services,
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personal services,
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as well as all other "unclassified" professional services.
This is the second such decision by the regulator. The limit of 500 thousand hryvnias was first introduced on September 10, 2024, but then it only applied to payments for agency and real estate services abroad. Now it applies to all of the above-mentioned areas together - not to each one separately.
For comparison, limits on foreign spending have long been established for hryvnia cards:
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no more than 100 thousand UAH for goods and services,
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no more than 12.5 thousand UAH per week (and 50 thousand UAH per month) for cash withdrawals,
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p2p transfers from currency cards - no more than 100 thousand UAH.
The goal is to prevent the "leakage" of currency from the country, especially through dubious or gray financial schemes, experts explain. As a representative of one of the systemic banks noted, the NBU monitors the areas where currency is most actively spent and introduces restrictions to curb untargeted withdrawals.
"The regulator is convinced that part of these expenses is not a real need of citizens abroad, but a cover for schemes. Although serious "players" have long since switched to crypto, the NBU is trying to block at least banking channels," the banker noted in a comment to Strana.
At the same time, the rules for business have been relaxed. In particular:
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the limit for cash withdrawals from corporate hryvnia cards abroad has been increased to UAH 17.5 thousand per week (it was UAH 12.5 thousand),
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the limit for paying for goods and services with business cards has been raised to 150 thousand UAH per month (it was 100 thousand),
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Settlements for court, registration, and forward contracts abroad are allowed.
Thus, the NBU continues its course of strengthening currency control in wartime conditions, while trying not to stop the operational activities of Ukrainian enterprises abroad.
