This is reported by RBK-Ukraine referencing the decision of the commission. This information is also conveyed by Kontrakty.UA.
As noted by NBU Chairman Andriy Pyshny, a professional opinion has been published on the UINP website, which states the inadmissibility of using "kopiyka" in independent Ukraine.
"We have a clear expert 'yes' from eight members of the expert commission of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory regarding how detrimental the kopiyka is for Ukraine at its core and its use as a tool for ideological colonization, occupation, and Russification of Ukraine's monetary circulation, and thus, the state as a whole," - wrote the NBU Chairman.
Justification for the Replacement
According to the Secretary of the UINP Expert Commission, Bohdan Korolenko, during the discussion of the National Bank's request, commission members noted that the name "kopiyka" belongs to the Russian monetary tradition and gradually became established on the territory of modern Ukraine due to its absorption by the Russian Empire.
The head of the UINP Expert Commission, Viktor Brekhunenko, commented: "By supporting the National Bank's initiative, the commission was guided by the fact that the kopiyka is not an indigenous Ukrainian monetary unit. It was imposed by Moscow. Transitioning to 'shah' means we are shedding another aspect of colonial legacy. 'Shah' is a currency that existed in Ukraine during the 16th to 18th centuries."
According to information provided by the NBU to the Potebnia Institute of Linguistics, the term "shah" to denote a small coin in the Ukrainian language has been known since the 16th century. According to the expert conclusion from the Institute of History of Ukraine, in the 17th-18th centuries, 'shah' referred to the Polish-Lithuanian trojak worth three groszy, minted between 1618 and 1624.
The name continued to be used even during the time when parts of modern Ukraine were within the Russian Empire: it was used to refer to a two-kopiyka copper coin, and later, 'shah' referred to a 'hryvnia' (Russian denga), which was worth half a kopiyka.
In the Ukrainian People's Republic, during the process of introducing its own currency, the name "shah" was specifically chosen for the denomination of small change.
"This was a tribute to tradition," - noted Viktor Brekhunenko. - "It was interrupted due to the defeat of the national liberation movement. By returning 'shah' today, we obtain the name of a small change that reflects the past and is not marked by Moscow's superiority. Thus, the Expert Commission supported the National Bank's request, which dared to take a step that should have been made back in 1992 alongside the transition to the hryvnia."
It is worth recalling that the National Bank of Ukraine initiated the change of the name of small change coins from "kopiyka" to "shah."
In October, the NBU submitted a package of draft laws to change the name of the small change coin from kopiyka to shah.