On Friday, April 26, 2019 USUBC together with the National Bank Ukraine, Baker McKenzie & Citibank conducted a roundtable dedicated to the new currency regulations introduced by the National Bank of Ukraine. The event took place at Sigmableyzer conference room.

During the USUBC members meeting with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), new opportunities and major innovations in the currency legislation of Ukraine and the peculiarities of their application in daily activities were discussed. Along with the discussion of innovations and their impact on current business operations in Ukraine, event participants focused on the prospects of new banking and financial products (currency swaps, futures, asset management, etc.) as well as opportunities for international business to develop new types of banking and financial services with Ukrainian clients.

Speakers at the event included Oleg Churiy, Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, Alexander G. McWhorter, Chairman of the Board of Directors, JSC “Citibank”, Serhiy Fozekosh, Head of the Currency Transaction Department, Citibank (Ukraine), Igor Olekhov, Partner at the Kyiv office of Baker McKenzie, Bohdan Dyakovych, Associate at at the Kyiv office of Baker McKenzie. The event was moderated by Michael Datsenko, Director, Information and Member Programs, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C.

Speakers presented their view and interpretation of the new foreign control rules in Ukraine that became effective on February 7, 2019. The New Law of Ukraine “On Currency and Currency transactions” and new currency control rules came into effect, making the long-awaited move towards liberalization of foreign exchange controls.  For the first time in 25 years, Ukraine has fundamentally revised its foreign exchange control rules – the old licensing system has been replaced with a new liberal model of foreign exchange regulation, aimed at facilitating free movement of capital and improving investment climate in Ukraine.

Issues discussed during the roundtable included new opportunities for international business: new banking and financial products, access to international markets, investment opportunities under the new currency legislation, supervision over compliance with currency legislation, continuation of existing currency restrictions, prospects for further liberalization of currency regulation.

The event was attended by the following USUBC members and organizations: AgroGeneration, BakerMcKenzie, CHS Inc., Aton Group, Citibank, CMS Cameron McKenna, Corteva, DLA Piper, EY, IMI-MIM-Kyiv, MetLife, National Bank of Ukraine, Ramada Encore Hotel, RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group, SigmaBleyzer, Ukrainian League of Industrials and Entrepreneurs (USPP) Export Promotion Center, USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project (Digital Finance), Ukrainian Commodity  Clearing, Investonhills Capital.

The Business Roundtable sponsored jointly by the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) (www.usubc.org) and Baker McKenzie (https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/locations/emea/ukraine) with support from the National Bank of Ukraine (www.bank.gov ), Citibank (https://www.citigroup.com/citi/, https://www.citigroup.com/citi/about/countries-and-jurisdictions/ukraine.html) and SigmaBleyzer (www.sigmableyzer.com). Baker McKenzie global law firm, Citi Group and SigmaBleyzer are USUBC members.