Go2Yalta :: Money in Ukraine

[http://www.go2yalta.com/] Web Go2Yalta.com Yalta Travel Guide About Yalta Embassies Visas Getting There Sights in Yalta Massandra Winery Seaside Yalta's Best Show All Sights »»» Essentials Apartments & Hotels Communications Emergencies Healthcare Money Transport Airlines City Transport Trains & Buses Map of Yalta Food & Drinks Restaurants Wines of Crimea BBC Weather Weather Channel Ukraine News Yalta Blog Image Galery RSS available The Basics Diversify your travel money. Bring some cash, bring your bankcard, and maybe even some travelers checks. ATMs are plentiful in Ukraine but can be risky to use. Avoid the street side ATMs and always cover the keypad while keying in your PIN. To get a better rate when selling foreign currency in Yalta sell a large amount. Credit Cards, Cash, ATMs, and Checks MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted in shops and restaurants. Traveler’s checks, such as American Express, can be cashed easily. The bank will usually charge a percentage such as 1 or 2 percent. If the bank wants 2 percent then find another bank. Ukraine is still a cash economy so expect to pay with cash everywhere else. If you’re staying in a private apartment then the agent or owner will only accept cash and may insist on USD. ATMs are plentiful but be cautious. There have been reports of ATM fraud on the street side machines. To be safe always cover the keypad with your freehand while keying in your PIN. Bank checks are useless in Ukraine. Changing Money Your foreign currency must be changed into Hryvinia (Ukrainian Currency) to spend money in Ukraine. Official money changing booths are plentiful in Yalta with their exchange rates posted outside the door. The good news: there are not a lot of the shenanigans you find in Kiev with the exchange rates, such as trying to fool you into thinking they’re offering a rate 5.10 by rigging a sign which actually reads 5.010. The bad news: the rates for selling foreign currency in Yalta are poor. You’ll probably pay 2 percent more when selling in Yalta compared to other cities of Ukraine. Sometimes you can get a better rate by changing a large amount of currency. For example, by changing more than $300 at once you may get a rate 5.0 instead of 4.90. Sending and Receiving Money The familiar black-and-yellow Western Union signs are everywhere in Yalta. To a lesser degree MoneyGram is also available. Receiving money is a fairly simple process even if you don’t speak Russian. The forms are available in English. If you’re having trouble then someone behind the counter may just fill the form out for you. Have your passport ready. Sending money is a different matter. You may not be able to send money out of the country and some banks may require proof of where you got the money when sending within Ukraine. Bring a Russian-speaking friend along and avoid the hassle. In-country rates are reasonable in Ukraine, though. Expect to spend about 40 Hryvnias to send 1000. Banking in Ukraine Banking in Ukraine is developing but still not up to Western standards. Many foreign banks are moving in and stirring competition among the local banks for retail customer services. With many of the Ukrainian banks you’re not going to get services we now take for granted, like online banking. Foreigners can open bank accounts without too much difficulty. Just bring an interpreter (a good friend if possible) and your passport. Some banks are easier to work with than others. If you fund an account with cash then you must provide proof of where you got the cash. So keep your ATM receipts and customs records. If you’re funding an account via wire transfers then some banks will allow you to open the account without funding it with cash. So shop around if one bank is giving you trouble. You may choose the type of currency you want the account held in; USD, Euros, Hryvnias, and so on. Foreign currencies will be held in a correspondent bank. Since wire transfers are the typical way of moving money in Ukraine the bank will probably have an instruction sheet available with all the information necessary to transfer money into your account. Useful Links | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Contact Copyright © 2006 OS Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved