Most countries in Southeast Europe are opening their doors to Ukrainian refugees — but their banks’ unwillingness to exchange Ukrainian currency could make it difficult for them to stay long.

Ukrainians at a refugee camp at the national exhibition center in Chisinau, Moldova, March 24, 2022.

Most countries in the Southeast Europe have expressed readiness to host Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country – and some have already opened their doors, welcoming as many as hundreds of thousands of people.

But many of these refugees will have problems covering living expenses in their host countries, as Ukrainian currency can no longer be exchanged into euros or local currencies, except in Moldova and Romania.

Other countries in Southeast Europe will not exchange the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, which is currently worth 0.031 euros.

In North Macedonia, no exchange rate is available. No Ukrainian or Russian banks operate in the country. Around 400 Ukrainians have entered North Macedonia since the war started, according to the Red Cross, but none appears to have applied for refugee status. According to the Red Cross, most Ukrainians who moved there are staying with relatives and friends, so paying in local currency has not yet turned into a problem.

Albania’s Central Bank says Ukraine’s currency is not in the list of the exchangeable currencies. The biggest currency exchange operator in Albania, Iliria 98, does not offer a rate for the hryvnia.

Albania on March 18 decided to allow Ukrainians fleeing the war to remain in Albania with a one-year residence permit, without a limit to the number.

In Kosovo, financial service companies and banks may not exchange the Ukrainian currency into euros.

Kosovo’s parliament in March passed a resolution expressing a readiness to shelter up to 5,000 Ukrainian refugees. The government has also allocated 150,000 euros to shelter 20 journalists from Ukraine for six months. By mid-March, only two women from Ukraine, with their children, had moved there.

For a Ukrainian to exchange their currency into euros in Kosovo, they need to transfer their money first to a local bank account, where it will automatically be exchanged into euros. Most banks in Kosovo require proof of residence and identification documents to open a bank account.

In Serbia, the Ukrainian hryvnia is not on the list of currencies that may be exchanged.

Serbia’s Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, Vladimir Cucic, told Deutsche Welle on March 2 that the could accept around 1,500 Ukrainian refugees. By early March around 300 had entered Serbia, most of whom have already moved on to Montenegro and Croatia because they have real estate there.

Greece’s Capital Exchange office told BIRN that they cannot exchange Ukrainian money into euros because Greek banks do not let them to do it.

Greece says that since the beginning of the war, 14,429 Ukrainian citizens have crossed into the country, of whom 4,580 are minors.

In Bulgaria, some exchange bureaux are still selling Ukrainian currency, but even those are not buying hryvnias. 1 Ukrainian hryvnia currently goes for 0.060 lev. By March 26, Bulgaria had allowed 120,000 Ukrainians into the country since the start oif the conflict, 55,000 of whom had stayed.

The Central banks of Greece, Kosovo, and Serbia did not respond to BIRN’s questions on the matter by the time of publication.

The only exceptions to the no-exchange rule in the region are Moldova and Romania. National banks and private banks there are still exchanging hryvnia with no restrictions. Moldova and Romania have taken in around 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in total.

On March 24, Reuters reported that European Union countries might agree to allow Ukrainians to change their currency into currencies used in the EU, at the Ukrainian central bank rate, for three months.

Accoridng to Reuters, every EU country would set up its own system to ensure each refugee could exchanges a maximum amount of around 10,000 hryvnia, and only once.

Source link: balkaninsight.com