Ukrainians and foreigners in the country were surprised last week when some retail currency exchanges in Kyiv bucked international currency rates and valued euros more highly than the U.S. dollar

Ukrainians and foreigners in the country were surprised last week when some retail currency exchanges in Kyiv bucked international currency rates and valued euros more highly than the U.S. dollar. While the dollar has shown weakness against most international currencies on the world market, the euro has never been traded at better than $0.99. Some Kyiv street exchanges, however, offered the equivalent of $1.04 or better for the European currency. The turnaround appears to reflect currency speculation prompted by discouraging economic signals from the United States and the gloomy predictions of a financier well‑known in Eastern Europe. While the greenback began regaining lost ground late last week, it slipped again early this week. On July 8, the gap had narrowed, and street exchange kiosks were buying dollars and euros at near par – offering Hr 5.21 for dollars and Hr 5.20 for euros – a far cry from the National Bank of Ukraine’s official Hr 5.3288 dollar rate and its Hr 5.1823 rate for the euro