Bank gold in Ukraine: the price, the cost of buying and selling back, and tax

01What it is

Bank gold is gold bars of the highest fineness with a certificate of quality, which banks sell and buy back. Ukrainian law counts such bars as bank metals, as it does coins made of precious metals. Some banks also keep metal accounts, where the gold is recorded in grams and you hold no bar.

Gold pays no interest. The only gain or loss is the change in price between buying and selling.

The National Bank of Ukraine sets an official gold price every day: UAH 182,878 per troy ounce, that is UAH 5,879.66 per gram, or $4,059.35 per ounce at the official exchange rate (Source: Національний банк України, Oct 25, 2026). It is calculated from the world gold price in dollars and the hryvnia rate. It is a price for accounting: banks are not bound to sell or buy at it, and a bar at a bank always costs more.

The bar prices on this page are PrivatBank's. Under its tariffs in force from Jul 8, 2026, OTP Bank has suspended selling bars to clients and buying them back (Source: АТ «ОТП БАНК», Jul 8, 2026). The market is thin, so every figure here names the bank and the date.

02What it pays now

Gold has no return "now": the result depends only on how the price moves. So the board shows the range of what has already happened: the worst and the best result among all periods of the given length from 2000 to 2026, in dollars, at the National Bank's price at the end of each month:

• over one year: −28.0% … 99.1%;
• over three years in a row, on average a year: −14.9% … 42.2%;
• over ten years in a row, on average a year: −0.6% … 20.7% (Source: Національний банк України, Sep 2026).

This is the price change only, before the loss on buying and selling a bar back: the board takes that off separately.

A few more figures from the same history, to the end of the latest full month (Source: Національний банк України, Sep 2026):

• since the end of 2004, the dollar price rose by 10.9% a year on average;
• over the last twelve months: 8.5%;
• the best calendar year, 2025: 67.8%; the worst, 2013: −27.1%;
• the deepest fall, from the peak of Aug 31, 2011 to the low of Dec 31, 2015: −40.8%;
• from the latest peak, Jan 31, 2026, to the end of the latest month: −24.9%.

03After tax and inflation

Tax. Ukraine does not tax income from selling bank metals: personal income tax 0%, military levy 0% (Source: Верховна Рада України, Oct 12, 2026). Ukraine's Tax Code exempts transactions in currency valuables, and the law counts bank metals among them. So there is no tax on the hryvnia gain from devaluation either.

Buying and selling back. The main cost is the gap between the price at which the bank sells a bar and the price at which it buys it back. The board prices a 10 g bar at PrivatBank: buying it and selling it straight back costs 7.1% of the amount (Source: АТ КБ «ПриватБанк», Oct 24, 2026). You pay this once, not every year, so over a longer term it weighs less per year.

Inflation then takes its share: 3.7% in the US and 10.0% in Ukraine. The hryvnia price of gold is its dollar price times the exchange rate, so the board counts gold in dollars. For the hryvnia view, it assumes that the hryvnia falls each year by its historical average, 6.0%; that is an assumption, not a forecast, and the window and method are in the board's method note.

There is no tax, so the gap between the price change and the "After tax" column is the loss on buying and selling back, spread over the years of the term. The table shows the whole range for terms of up to three years, from the worst period in the history to the best. Over ten years it is narrower: −4.9% … +15.4% a year in real hryvnia terms, if the hryvnia falls as it has in the past.

04Who guarantees it

There is no guarantee. Ukraine's Deposit Guarantee Fund does not cover deposits in bank metals.

A bar you have taken from the bank no longer depends on the bank, but it needs safe storage: at home or in a rented bank safe deposit box, which costs money. A metal account is a claim on the bank: if the bank fails, it is not guaranteed. Nobody guarantees the gold price either.

05How fast you can get out

Getting out means selling the bar to a bank at its buying price. The bank pays its better price only if the packaging is intact and the bar is undamaged. If the packaging is damaged, the bank pays less, and the loss on buying and selling back reaches 12.3–26.4%.

Not every bank buys bars at the moment. Before you buy, find out where and at what price you can sell the bar.

06Minimum amount

The board takes a 10 g bar as the minimum: at PrivatBank it costs UAH 66,450 (Source: АТ КБ «ПриватБанк», Oct 24, 2026). The board prices the loss on buying and selling back on the same bar, so the minimum and the cost describe the same purchase. If your amount is below the minimum, the board hides gold.

The smallest bar, 1 g, costs UAH 7,875, but small bars cost more per gram. For bars lighter than 5 g, buying and selling back costs 10.4–16.0%, and for the smallest 16.0%. For bars of 5 g and more it is 6.8–7.8%.

07Main risk

The main risk is the price. The worst calendar year in the history of the dollar gold price brought −27.1%, and the deepest fall from peak to low reached −40.8%. After a fall like that, the price may take years to return to its earlier level.

• Buying and selling back. Even if the price does not move, you lose 7.1% on buying and selling back a 10 g bar, and more on small bars.
• The bar's condition. Damaged packaging or a damaged bar lowers the price at which the bank buys it.
• A thin market. Not every bank sells and buys bars now, so there may be nowhere nearby to sell, or no good price.
• Storage. A bar at home can be lost, and a bank box costs money.
• The hryvnia. The hryvnia price of gold follows the dollar: if the hryvnia strengthens, the result in hryvnias is smaller.

08How to buy from Ukraine

1. Choose a bank that both sells and buys bars, and compare its selling and buying prices for the weight you want: the gap between them is your loss.
2. Work out which bar weight you can afford: small bars cost more per gram and are bought back for less.
3. Buy the bar at a branch and take the certificate of quality and the proof of purchase.
4. Keep the bar in its intact packaging with the certificate: it decides how much the bank will pay for it.

What to know about investment gold in general is explained in the article "Investment Gold: Bank Bars, Spreads and Storage".

09Work it out further

• Work out the average yearly return between a buying and a selling price in the annualized return calculator.
• See how much inflation takes in the inflation impact calculator.
• Compare gold with a deposit on the "Deposits" page, and with every option on the "Where to invest" board.