Ukraine considers renaming its smallest coin, kopiyka, to shag

On Wednesday, October 1, the Verkhovna Rada introduced the long-discussed bill No. 14093, which proposes renaming the kopiyka (Ukrainian cent) to a shag (a historical Ukrainian term for a small coin). The initiative was submitted by five MPs, led by Parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.

The bill includes amendments to the laws on the National Bank, pensions, capital markets, as well as to the Tax Code (submitted separately as bill No. 14094).

The reform will not affect the 50-kopiyka coin, which will remain in circulation (all other denominations of the kopiyka have already been withdrawn, the 10-kopiyka coin will be phased out starting October 1). New 50-shag coins will be introduced and circulate in parallel, without additional costs.

"The monetary reform of 1996 laid the foundation for Ukraine’s own independent currency, the hryvnia, but it did not fully break away from Russian monetary traditions. As a result, even 34 years after Ukraine’s independence, our circulation still contains a unit that links us with Russia — the ‘kopiyka’, enshrined in law," the explanatory note to the bill states.

Apart from Ukraine, only Russia and Belarus — enemy states — as well as Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria still use kopeyka.

"To ignore this fact means preserving the connection between Ukraine and hostile narratives. Restoring the historical name ‘shag’ for Ukraine’s small coin will help de-Sovietize monetary circulation and reestablish historical justice," the MPs argue.

Lawmakers propose to dedicate the renaming of the kopiyka to the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s monetary reform, to be marked in 2026.

The term shag has deep historical roots. It derives from the Old Ukrainian words siag ("step") or shelyag, appears in folk proverbs and classical Ukrainian literature, and was used in the currency of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1918–1919.

• In September 2024, the NBU proposed reintroducing the shag as the name for change coins. The initiative received support from the Institute of History, the Institute of Linguistics, and the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.