Ukraine’s international reserves fell 5% in August — to around €41.9 billion

Ukraine’s international reserves stood at around €41.9 billion as of September 1, 2026. Their volume declined by 5% over August.

This was reported by the National Bank of Ukraine.

According to the NBU, this dynamic was driven by a reduction in international financial assistance while foreign exchange intervention volumes remained close to July levels. The regulator stressed that the current level of reserves is sufficient to maintain stability in the foreign exchange market and covers four months of future imports.

Several key factors shaped the reserve dynamics in August. In terms of foreign exchange market operations, the NBU sold around €4.2 billion and purchased around €430 thousand. Around €797.7 million was received into the government’s foreign currency accounts at the NBU: of that, around €769 million came through World Bank accounts, and another around €28.6 million from other investors.

Reserves were additionally increased by around €1.4 billion following the government’s conversion into hryvnia of funds previously received by Ukraine from the EU under the defense tranche of the Ukraine Support Loan program. The NBU explained that upon initial receipt, these funds are not counted as reserves due to their designated purpose.

In August, Ukraine directed around €620.9 million toward servicing and repaying state debt in foreign currency. Of that amount, around €307.9 million went to servicing and repaying debt to the World Bank, around €248.3 million to Eurobond servicing, around €14.5 million to foreign currency government bonds, and another around €50.2 million to payments to other creditors. Separately, Ukraine paid around €245.3 million to the IMF.

As a result of changes in the market value of financial instruments, exchange rates, and other factors, reserves grew by around €646.9 million in August.

In October 2025, the NBU revised its forecast for international reserve volumes. The regulator expected that by the end of 2025, reserves would amount to around €46.1 billion — around €86 million less than projected in the July forecast. At the same time, the estimate for 2026 was raised to around €44.9 billion, which is around €6.5 billion more than the previous forecast. Expectations for 2027 also increased — to around €50.9 billion, around €12 billion above the prior forecast. The NBU attributed the revision to an expected increase in international financial support volumes.

As of June 1, 2026, Ukraine’s international reserves stood at around €39.3 billion, and in July at around €44.1 billion.