The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance has recommended the adoption of a bill to rename Ukraine’s penny as a “step.” The announcement was made by committee chairman Daniil Getmantsev on Telegram on December 15, where he stated: “I am confident that the step will be a powerful and victorious step towards the macro-financial stability of the state.”
In early September 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) initiated efforts to abandon the penny as a “symbol of Moscow occupation” and proposed renaming it with the term “step,” claiming this would restore coins’ “own identity.” The NBU justified its decision by citing historical usage in Ukrainian colloquial speech during the 16th–17th centuries, where “step” denoted a small coin.
On August 7, NBU head Andriy Pyshny expressed concern that the Verkhovna Rada had not yet adopted the bill to replace pennies with steps. As of now, Ukraine circulates approximately 1.4 billion coins with a face value of 50 kopecks, and the National Bank continues to issue new batches annually.
