Ukraine Moves Closer to European Financial Infrastructure

Ukraine’s integration into the European financial space is moving from high-level policy declarations to concrete infrastructural steps. As Ukraine works towards joining SEPA by the end of 2027, both regulators and the central bank are taking action to align the country's legal framework and payment infrastructure with European standards.

In August 2026, the newly appointed Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi presented the strategic program of the government for 2026–2027 in parliament. SEPA accession has been identified in the document as an important component of its financial policy agenda, and the formal deadline for a SEPA membership application has been set for 2027.

Meeting this requirement involves more than procedural compliance: Ukraine must bring its legislative framework into full alignment with EU directives and the standards established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This is already being done, as parliament is currently considering a package of financial sector bills focused on:

• Harmonizing AML/CFT standards: aligning national legislation directly with European Union directives
• Payment transparency: upgrading financial information registries to meet EU open-banking and reporting norms
• Enhancing transparency and financial monitoring frameworks in line with EU requirements

In Ukraine, much of the public discussion surrounding SEPA has focused on individual aspects of the proposed legislation, particularly the creation of a registry of accounts and individual safe deposit boxes held by individuals and its implications for banking secrecy. However, for financial institutions, the bigger picture is clear: a predictable and EU-compliant regulatory baseline.

Regulatory alignment will not work without technical capabilities. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) continues to modernize its System of Electronic Payments (SEP). Today, Ukraine's SEP 4.1 operates as a 24/7 real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system for hryvnia payments, using the ISO 20022 messaging standard. In 2025, the system processed 595 million transactions with a total volume of UAH 273.6 trillion, a 23% year-on-year increase in transaction numbers. The next step announced by the National Bank of Ukraine is SEP 4.2, a multi-currency architecture designed to support domestic payments in EUR, USD, and other currencies.

The NBU has already published the document “Key Principles for the Introduction of a Multi-Currency Regime in SEP” (Упровадження стандарту ISO 20022), outlining the conceptual framework for the project. Technical documentation will be released in the second half of 2026, followed by testing sandboxes for commercial banks and software vendors later this year. Core implementation will run through 2027.

To sum up, these developments suggest that Ukraine is gradually moving from planning to implementation. Legislative reforms are advancing, the payment infrastructure is being upgraded, and both are aimed at bringing the country closer to the European financial system.

For Ukraine, SEPA is about much more than cheaper euro transfers. It is widely seen as another milestone on the country's path towards European financial integration, with potential benefits ranging from simpler cross-border payments and lower transaction costs to stronger economic links with EU markets.