You Can Count on Me (1986)
KYIV DESTINATION: Your pocket!
The national currency is the Hrivna. This was the currency of the Golden Age of Kyiv in the 9th and 10th centuries. A hrivna was a metal weight that looked like a medallion, and it was not uncommon for people to have one hanging from their necklaces. The one below is from the 10th century.
In advertising and menus the word hrivna is shortened to grn - or грн in Ukrainian.
It may come as a surprise but as you walk around Kyiv you are all carrying examples of British design in your pockets. That's because the notes were designed in the UK by the company De La Rue. This company also developed the Ukrainian Mint, so now all bank notes are printed inside the country.
The notes are made out of flax.
In the conflict zones of the east (Dometsk and Luhansk) the hrivna is still used as currency, but in occupied Crimea, the Russian rouble is now the official currency.
The money comes in the following denominations, which also take you on a quick historical journey through some of the most famous Ukrainian figures:
The largest note is the green and brown 500 hrivna. The note includes a portrait of Grigoriy Skovoroda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Skovoroda, a philosopher and scholar who studied at the most prestigious university in the country - Kyiv Mohila University, which celebrated its 400th anniversary last year. The university building is featured on the back.
200 hrivna. The pinkish note features the portrait of feminist and poet Lesya Ukrainka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesya_Ukrainka. Ukainika wrote poems and translated Russian stories into Ukrainian. Writing Ukrainian literature was a crime in Tsarist Russia. The reverse side shows a picture of Lutsk castle in western Ukraine, where she lived as a young girl.
100 hrivna. This brown note features the founder of Ukrainian literature, Taras Schevchenko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Shevchenko, who is so important to Ukrainians that he has a metro station, university and boulevard named after him. Schevchenko was a poet artist and social reformer, similar to George Borrow was for Wales or Mark Twain was for the USA. The university named after Schevchenko is on the reverse.
The 50 hrivna note is purple. It contains a portrait of Mikhailo Hrushevskiy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykhailo_Hrushevsky, a 20th century politician, who is considered to be the greatest historian, an organiser of scholarship and the prominent proponent for an independent Ukraine. He headed Ukraine's first independent parliament in 1917-1918. On the reverse is a picture of the building where the parliament sat, which is now the parliament building of independent Ukraine.
The 20 hrivna note is green and features Ivan Franko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Franko. Franko was a writer who wrote the first detective novels in Ukrainian. In 1962 a city in western Ukraine was renamed after him. The opera house of Lviv (in western Ukraine) is on the reverse. Franko went to university in Lviv and was born nearby. The opera house was named after Franko until 2000.
The 10 hrivna note is red and shows Ivan Mazepa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Mazepa the Cossack leader, who fatefully sided with Sweden against Russia, and consequently changing the power structures of Europe. He built the walls around Kyiv's Lavra monastery complex - which is featured on the reverse.
The 5 hrivna note is blue and has a picture of Boghdan Khmelnitsky, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohdan_Khmelnytsky. He was a cossack leader who's uprising led to the formation of a Cossack state in Ukraine. On the reverse is a picture of a church from his family estate in Subotiv.
The 2 hrivna note is orange and features Yaroslav the Wisehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaroslav_the_Wise, the 11th century ruler of Kyiv. He brought laws and historical record to Kyiv and on the reverse is the church that he built, St Sophia.
The 1 hrivna note is blue and yellow and shows Volodymyr the Great https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great, the 10th century prince of Kyiv, who brought Christianity to Kyiv. The reverse shows the defensive wall around Kyiv from his times.
The hrivna is further broken down into 100 cents (or kopiyoks). They include 50 kopiyoks, 25 Kopiyoks, 10 kopiyoks, 5 kopiyoks, 2 kopiyoks and 1 kopiyok. These coins are used in supermarkets. However they take a long time to accumulate to very much, as one Euro is the equivalent to approximately 30 hrivna (or 3,000 kopiyoks).
London Cafe (coffee shop):
Address: 19, Verkhniy Val
https://m.facebook.com/LONDONcoffeehouse/
British Embassy:
Address: 9, Desyatynna St, 02000 Kyiv
Tel: +380 44 490 3660
British Council:
4/12, Hryhoriya Skovoroda St
What other UK links are there in Kyiv?
Let's Talk Money - How every Ukrainian carries British design
EUROVISION COUNTRY: United KingdomKYIV DESTINATION: Your pocket!
The national currency is the Hrivna. This was the currency of the Golden Age of Kyiv in the 9th and 10th centuries. A hrivna was a metal weight that looked like a medallion, and it was not uncommon for people to have one hanging from their necklaces. The one below is from the 10th century.
The notes are made out of flax.
In the conflict zones of the east (Dometsk and Luhansk) the hrivna is still used as currency, but in occupied Crimea, the Russian rouble is now the official currency.
The money comes in the following denominations, which also take you on a quick historical journey through some of the most famous Ukrainian figures:
The largest note is the green and brown 500 hrivna. The note includes a portrait of Grigoriy Skovoroda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Skovoroda, a philosopher and scholar who studied at the most prestigious university in the country - Kyiv Mohila University, which celebrated its 400th anniversary last year. The university building is featured on the back.
100 hrivna. This brown note features the founder of Ukrainian literature, Taras Schevchenko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Shevchenko, who is so important to Ukrainians that he has a metro station, university and boulevard named after him. Schevchenko was a poet artist and social reformer, similar to George Borrow was for Wales or Mark Twain was for the USA. The university named after Schevchenko is on the reverse.
The 50 hrivna note is purple. It contains a portrait of Mikhailo Hrushevskiy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykhailo_Hrushevsky, a 20th century politician, who is considered to be the greatest historian, an organiser of scholarship and the prominent proponent for an independent Ukraine. He headed Ukraine's first independent parliament in 1917-1918. On the reverse is a picture of the building where the parliament sat, which is now the parliament building of independent Ukraine.
The 20 hrivna note is green and features Ivan Franko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Franko. Franko was a writer who wrote the first detective novels in Ukrainian. In 1962 a city in western Ukraine was renamed after him. The opera house of Lviv (in western Ukraine) is on the reverse. Franko went to university in Lviv and was born nearby. The opera house was named after Franko until 2000.
The 10 hrivna note is red and shows Ivan Mazepa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Mazepa the Cossack leader, who fatefully sided with Sweden against Russia, and consequently changing the power structures of Europe. He built the walls around Kyiv's Lavra monastery complex - which is featured on the reverse.
The 2 hrivna note is orange and features Yaroslav the Wisehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaroslav_the_Wise, the 11th century ruler of Kyiv. He brought laws and historical record to Kyiv and on the reverse is the church that he built, St Sophia.
The 1 hrivna note is blue and yellow and shows Volodymyr the Great https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great, the 10th century prince of Kyiv, who brought Christianity to Kyiv. The reverse shows the defensive wall around Kyiv from his times.
The hrivna is further broken down into 100 cents (or kopiyoks). They include 50 kopiyoks, 25 Kopiyoks, 10 kopiyoks, 5 kopiyoks, 2 kopiyoks and 1 kopiyok. These coins are used in supermarkets. However they take a long time to accumulate to very much, as one Euro is the equivalent to approximately 30 hrivna (or 3,000 kopiyoks).
London Cafe (coffee shop):
Address: 19, Verkhniy Val
https://m.facebook.com/LONDONcoffeehouse/
British Embassy:
Address: 9, Desyatynna St, 02000 Kyiv
Tel: +380 44 490 3660
British Council:
4/12, Hryhoriya Skovoroda St
What other UK links are there in Kyiv?
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