NBU eases foreign exchange restrictions for Defense City residents
From December 31, 2025, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is easing a number of foreign exchange restrictions as part of implementing the legislation on the "Defense City" legal regime, aimed at supporting the defense-industrial complex (DIC).
This was reported by the NBU press service.
The easing of restrictions for "Defense City" residents, prepared jointly with the Ministry of Defense, will apply to:
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the terms for purchasing foreign currency to import goods;
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cross-border transfers from Ukraine for certain transactions.
These changes will help strengthen Ukraine’s defense capability by creating proper conditions for the DIC to operate. They are set out in Resolution No. 166 of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine dated December 30, 2025, "On amendments to Resolution No. 18 of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine dated February 24, 2022," and took effect on December 31, 2025.
The "Defense City" initiative is a new legal regime to support the DIC in Ukraine, introduced by the Law of Ukraine "On amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other laws of Ukraine regarding support for defense-industrial complex enterprises," which entered into force on October 5, 2025. The law provides a preferential tax regime for Defense City residents and recommends that the NBU define specific rules for foreign exchange transactions and FX supervision for them.
As reported, in 2026, the National Bank plans to conduct inspections of six banks on information security, cyber protection and the provision of qualified electronic trust services. These measures are provided for in the Plan of Inspections of Banks for 2026 and will cover, in particular, information protection and cybersecurity aspects.
NBU specialists will assess the information security measures implemented directly at the banks and analyze the effectiveness of information security management systems.
