According to NBU resolution No. 148 of May 27, 2008, registered with the Ministry of Justice on June 11 (entering into force 45 days after state registration), individuals may transport across the border without written permission cash equivalents of up to €10,000. With written declaration, individuals may transport across the border cash exceeding €10,000.
Previously, residents could export up to 50,000 hryvnias in national currency and up to $10,000 in foreign currency. Importing into Ukraine was allowed no more than $15,000. As Interfax-Ukraine notes, importing or exporting a larger amount required an individual NBU license.
According to the new NBU resolution, legal entities can now export or import cash currency without amount limits through an authorized representative subject to written declaration.
The NBU also allowed sending cash of up to €300 via international mail shipments, whereas previously that amount was limited to $100.
As Kommersant-Ukraine notes, the new rules provide an alternative to money transfers for Ukrainians working abroad, since oral and written declaration incur no fee. "People have more money now, and using payment cards is not always convenient. Especially since migrant workers in Italy and Spain have started earning decent money, but they are not very friendly with plastic cards," believes Sergei Borisov, deputy chairman of the board of the bank Finance and Credit.
The last time the NBU raised the currency threshold was in August 2005 (from $6,000 to $10,000). At that time, with oral declaration, non-resident individuals could export and import up to $3,000, while residents could only up to $1,000. A year before that, the maximum limit was $5,000, and at the end of the 1990s, it was $1,000.