Ukraine has moved closer to the euro payment zone: the government has adopted changes that will affect everyone

Legislative changes will ensure lower bank fees and faster cross-border payments / photo ua.depositphotos.comThe government approved a package of draft laws that pave the way for Ukraine to join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

As the press service of the Ministry of Finance reported, the draft laws should bring Ukrainian legislation on combating money laundering and terrorist financing into compliance with EU requirements and FATF standards. This is one of the key conditions of Ukraine’s European integration.

“Ukrainians and businesses will have the opportunity to make international transfers in euros quickly, without extra fees and according to uniform rules for all SEPA member countries,” the message reads.

The Ministry of Finance named the key changes envisaged by the draft laws:

Creation of the Register of accounts and individual bank safes of individuals, which will be administered by the Ministry of Finance, will contain only the IBAN, the name of the owner and the name of the bank. Fund balances, account movements, safe deposit box contents or opening/closing date are not included.

Preservation of bank secrecy: The register contains only 1/13 of the full amount of information defined by the law “On banks and banking activities”.

Only authorized state bodies (State Financial Monitoring, ARMA, NAZK, Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, NABU, BEB, SBU, National Police of Ukraine, SBU) will have access to the register through secure channels within the scope of serious crime investigations.

The register of ultimate beneficial owners of trusts or other similar legal entities, which will be administered by the Ministry of Finance, is introduced for the transparency of financial flows.

Additional protection of whistleblowers in the field of financial monitoring and expansion of primary financial monitoring subjects for better control of illegal financial transactions.

Strengthening control over the transparency and integrity of the owners of financial institutions.

“Ukraine will save 70-100 million euros every year on international transfers. For 120,000 Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises that regularly export to the EU, the annual savings will amount to about 4,000 euros per company,” the department said.

It is also noted that legislative changes after adoption by the parliament will ensure, in particular, lower bank commissions and faster cross-border payments, as well as a reduction in corruption risks.

Ukraine’s accession to the Single Euro Payments Zone The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is an initiative of the European Union to integrate payments to simplify bank transfers in euros.

In April 2025, the government approved a draft law on Ukraine’s compliance with EU requirements for joining the European payment system.

In July, during the discussion of the draft law on the accession of Ukraine to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), it became known that the Ministry of Finance is conducting a discussion with the National Bank of Ukraine regarding the limitation of bank secrecy in Ukraine. Then the Deputy Minister of Finance Denys Ulyutin (currently the Minister of Social Policy) said that “this is a difficult discussion, but it is written in the National Income Strategy that “we have to come to this”.

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