Buying a property in Ukraine

I completed the purchase of a property in Nikolaev in September last year. We were advised by the Estate Agent that the transaction could be completed in Hryvnia or Dollars. The seller and Estate Agent had advertised the property in Dollars and said that they would prefer that. When we spoke to the Notary (like a solicitor) who would complete all of the paperwork, he said that it was fine.

We opened a bank account with Oschadbank in Nikolaev and the account is in Dollars. I sent the money from my Santander account in the UK and it took about 7 days to arrive in Ukraine. We were then able to withdraw the money, in dollars from the bank. They only charge 1% in commission and it is only paid upon withdrawal. So, the $45000 dollar transaction only cost $450.

Are you using an Estate Agent to handle the communication and transaction? Do you have a Notary arranged who will draw up all of the documents and help with the payment of the required taxes etc? Between them, they should be able to advise accordingly. Foreign investment is not uncommon now in Ukraine and everyone that I came across in the process were extremely helpful.

As I know, first of all you should get Ukrainian ID code.
After that you need to open an investment account in foreign currency and Hrivnya in Ukrainian bank ( it is better to open account in bank with foreign investment, such as Ukrsibbank or Raiffeisen Bank Aval).
After that you could transfer your foreign currency into your account in Ukraine and convert them in Hryvnia for your deal.

Thank you for your answers so far.
I know that Ukrsibbank is a business partner of my Barclays bank so I am just thinking if it can help in any ways? I know that it cheaper for me to withdraw the money from Ukrsibbank cash machine than from any other cash machines in the Ukraine.
I was also advised not for under any circumstances to hold the money in the Ukrainian banks due to economic unsecurity.
I still yet to find the best way of payment for a new build flat in the Ukraine...

Ukrsotsbank is mergering soon with Russian Alfa-bank, so I don't recommend you to open accounts in this bank. By the way, have you already chosen the developer and the flat?

I understand that but Ukrsibbank is still my bank's partner so will be better for my needs than any other banks in the Ukraine.
Yes, I did choose the developer.

I told about Ukrsotsbank . Ukrsibbank is good and stable.

I converted my UK currency into American dollars from my bank account in the UK via SWIFT and into a Ukrainian bank account.

I did not keep the money in my Ukrainian bank because it is not safe. So I withdrew it all, and put it into a safety deposit box.

The purchase of my property in Ukraine was via a notary and had to be paid in cash, and in American dollars.

Hope that this is of some help to you.

Jon

Hi, open an investor account with one of the bid banks in Ukriane which should also allow you to open the account with different currencies in particular USD and EUR.  You could also convert the GBP through a UK currency broker used by foreign property investors and transferred to your account in Ukriane.

hello:)
Last year l bought a flat in Ukraine and l paid cash in dollar US
Let me know if you need more information...Philippe

It is possible if you are buying flat on a secondary market. In new buildings you should pay with the help of investment account.

hi all.
I say all as there are many ,posts. some with good information and some very misleading and costly. Bring , keeping money in the Ukraine is relatively  easy. yes you can keep changing it from Pounds to dollars etc etc. But why go through all the hassle, and cost.
I used to send money to the wife via money gram, I payed the charges in the UK and got the rate of the day, which frankly was shit.
However, looking through the internet i found a Ukraine bank in England, The Eximbank.
While moving over to the Ukraine i followed this bank up, and got the wife to do a little walking and talking, In short, we opened an investors account, with a card account and a normal account and soon we will have a savings account.
My main bank is in the Uk, About every 4 months I send Pounds to our account in the Ukraine. It sits in the account as pounds until the local rate is good for me. Then when rate is good we sell X amount through Kyiv , sounds a little complicated, but its not. it costs me £25 to send any amount up to 1 million. (i wish) then i pay .05% on the exchange. As a norm i normally come out on top, its complicated to put down here. The exim bank also has a fund guarantee, of 100,000 grivna. per account. This bank will give you Pounds, Dollars, Euros, Swiss franks, as an investment, account.
We are also about to open a savings account in grivna as the % rate is 15.90% for 6 months. yes i did say 15.90 for 6 months.
its a no brainier, and i do not have any connection with the bank except having an account there, so hope this helps.
Oh and before i go to watch tv. (english tv) if you have a wife or prospective wife and are buying property, use a local advocate, there charges are around 2 to 4,000 grivna to do all the paperwork, and its law that if you are a foreigner, and the purchase, will be in both names they must give you an interpreter, which costs 500 grivna. The costs are agreed costs and are controlled by the government. If you buy a new build, and your the first one in as the say, the costs are with the builder and local government which on average are 2 to 3,000 grivna.

hope some of this helps who ever

martinj

Hi all
Further to my above post we opened an savers account and get 18% per month, and for the people that have asked if we would sell the land separate from the house, its a no. Sorry.

martin

Hi there.

Yes all good, weather is wall to wall sun, I have stopped working for the summer so we can enjoy a datcha we bought. Still have the house for sale, lowered the price a little as know land is also possible to buy and sell. so yes all good this covid has not affeted the Ukraine like it has in Europe, its second nature to wash hand before eating out and arriving at home, so thats one reason why its been ok here, how about yourself

Hi there.

Yes all good, weather is wall to wall sun, I have stopped working for the summer so we can enjoy a datcha we bought. Still have the house for sale, lowered the price a little as know land is also possible to buy and sell. so yes all good this covid has not affeted the Ukraine like it has in Europe, its second nature to wash hand before eating out and arriving at home, so thats one reason why its been ok here, how about yourself

for some reason my advert for the house has gone. will repost it again

Hi there

Ok there are several things you can do. All have a little problem.First let me tell you how i did it. (pre Brexir mind)
Ok we opened a bank account with the EXIM bank of Ukraine. This bank will accept ...Pounds ... USD.... and Euros. Ok so this account gave us an ordernery account in Grivna with a dept card.
When i wishe dto buy the appartment i used my UK bank to transfer the money to the UKraine in sterling.Then i asked the bank to sell sterling for grivna... Doing it this way i saved 3000 usd on the perchase, this was due to low usd rate in ukraine and HIGH rate for pounds.

Easy really, but last month my bank was not able to send pounds as they lost the UK traders licence for sterling. There are some banks that still can send ponds , you need to ask them via the internation section of your bank to see if they can do it.

Another way is send USD from UK and then change to grivna. its a shitty way to do it but it works.
You could get cash, and fly it in. and you could if you have a debit card pay via your card. IE they will take payment in grivna and your bank will give the day mid term rate. I bought all our white goods on my uk dept card. You will need to get Authority from your bank as your not talking of a couple of grand here.
Paysend is another option but to send a large amount the process of getting an account is .... well a pain in the Ass.
Your best bet would be to make a payment to yourself in USD to your bank and have them sell for you.
The rate you get is not for general public. (what do i mean) in the street you will see cash exchange. USD 26.55 BUY USD 27.10 your bank if you open the account that trades USD will give you 26.85 or more. Its whats called a mid market trading price.
the following banks may be able to help

https://en.privatbank.ua/https://www.eximb.com/eng/home/https://www.oschadbank.ua/ua/private/transactionshttps://www.ukrgasbank.com/private/servis_online/
all the above are well trusted banks and government backed. All have a section to read what you need to do in English.


Hope this helps

martin