Ukrainian refugees face difficulties exchanging money in Poland, warns human rights commissioner

Ukrainian refugees in Poland have been facing increasing difficulty exchanging money, as their country’s currency, the hryvnia, fluctuates in value. Some, including Poland’s commissioner for human rights, have criticised some currency exchanges for seeking to exploit the situation. 

Well over one million people have crossed the border from Ukraine to Poland since the Russian invasion began on 24 February. They brought with them whatever they managed to pack, and many came with cash to convert when they arrived. 

Getting that money changed from hryvnia to zloty, however, is becoming increasingly difficult. Many exchanges are either not accepting hryvnia at all, or are only offering extremely low conversion rates. Some are also capping the maximum amount that can be exchanged per person. 

“[We are] receiving information about significant difficulties for Ukrainian citizens to sell hryvnia,” said the human rights commissioner, Marcin Wiącek. “This situation has a direct impact on the economic situation and dignity of Ukrainian citizens who, fearing war, seek refuge in Poland.” 

Wiącek also criticised exchanges that “offer a very unfavourable exchange rate, which can be perceived as a kind of usury. He noted that “this happens despite the publication by the National Bank of Poland of the average exchange rate of this currency”.

Long queues have been forming outside those currency exchanges still willing to buy hryvnia. One such place is Tavex in Warsaw, where refugees line up from early in the morning to try to get the most out of their savings.

Piotr Arak, director of the Polish Economic Institute (PIE), a think tank, told the Gazeta.pl news service that the problems are set to continue, and even get worse.

“Central banks have a job to do,” said Arak. “One of the main issues is the exchange of the hryvnia in Poland. Soon our banks will no longer be able to accept the larger amounts of hryvnia that flow into our country. Such a problem has already begun to appear in exchange offices; it will start to appear in banks.”

Since the crisis in Ukraine began, there has been an outpouring of support from the authorities and civil society in Poland, with efforts to provide accommodation, aid and other forms of support to refugees.

However, there have also been some stories of sharp business practices that seek to profit from the upheaval. As well as reports of “usurious” exchange rates, Onet, a news website, has documented fake taxis offering to transport people arriving from Ukraine for exorbitant prices.

The justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, yesterday condemned such practices, saying that “there can be no consent by the state for [those] feeding on human suffering”. He announced that he had ordered prosecutors to deal with cases of refugees being defrauded.

Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Shannon Listopad

Shannon Listopad is a contributing editorial assistant at Notes from Poland. With degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Jagiellonian University, she has experience in market research and data insights and has contributed to publications and studies including the European Union EUROMEC project.