Ukrainian government bonds (OVDP) and war bonds: yields, tax and how to buy

01What it is

OVDP (ОВДП) are Ukraine's domestic government bonds. When you buy one, you lend money to the state through the Ministry of Finance: the state pays interest (the coupon) and returns the face value on the maturity date. Issues come in hryvnias, US dollars and euros, with terms from a few months to several years.

"War bonds" is a name, not a separate kind of security. In its release of Oct 8, 2026, the Ministry of Finance calls the issue maturing on Sep 15, 2027 (code UA4000239115) "military bonds". It is placed at the same auctions as other OVDP, and the National Bank's placement data has no separate mark for war bonds. The borrower, the tax rules and the mechanics are the same, so this page and the board count them with the other hryvnia OVDP.

At the same auctions, banks also buy separate "reserve" issues: OVDP they may hold to cover their mandatory reserves (the National Bank's list, in Ukrainian). Their yield is clearly lower and says nothing about what a private buyer gets, so we leave them out.

02What it pays now

The Ministry of Finance sells new OVDP at auctions almost every week, and the National Bank of Ukraine publishes the result of each placement. The latest auction in our data was on Oct 20, 2026, and the table below gathers the latest placements. The shortest hryvnia issues, about a year to maturity, were placed at 15.01% a year. For a horizon of up to three years, the board takes the longest hryvnia issue within that range: 16.49% (Source: Національний банк України, Sep 29, 2026).

Foreign-currency OVDP are placed only now and then. A dollar issue was last sold on May 5, 2026 at 3.05%, and a euro issue on Jul 7, 2026 at 3.08%. These are the dates of the last offer, not a promise that such an issue is on sale today.

The table shows the weighted average yield of the latest placement in each of the National Bank's term groups. One issue can appear in two groups if its remaining term crossed a group boundary between auctions, so check the maturity date too.

03After tax and inflation

In Ukraine, OVDP income is not taxed: neither the coupons nor the gain on sale or redemption, including the exchange-rate gain on foreign-currency issues. The tax for an individual is 0% (Source: Верховна Рада України, Oct 12, 2026): no personal income tax and no military levy. The same applies to war bonds, since they are the same OVDP.

So only inflation and, if you count in dollars, the hryvnia's exchange rate take anything away. Annual inflation is 10.0% in Ukraine and 3.7% in the US. For the dollar view, the board assumes that the hryvnia falls each year by its historical average, 6.0%. That is an assumption, not a forecast: a longer stretch of history gives 10.3%. The window and the method are in the board's method note.

A dollar issue protects against devaluation but pays much less. Seen in hryvnias, the rise of the dollar adds to its return, and that gain is tax-free too.

Both tables are for a horizon of up to three years, the board's default. The real return here is the after-tax rate less inflation in the currency you count in.

04Who guarantees it

OVDP are debt of the Ukrainian state. Ukraine as the borrower, acting through the Ministry of Finance, promises to pay the coupons and the face value, and that promise is the whole basis of the bond's safety.

Ukraine's Deposit Guarantee Fund does not cover OVDP, even when you bought them through a bank: a bond is not a bank deposit. The bonds are held in your securities account, not on a bank deposit.

05How fast you can get out

There are two ways out. The first is to wait for maturity: on that day the face value and the last coupon arrive in your current account, and your yield is the one you locked in at the purchase price.

The second is to sell earlier through the institution that keeps your securities account, at the price it offers that day. That price depends on market rates: if rates rose after you bought, the bond is worth less and a sale locks in a loss. How long a sale takes and what price you get depend on the institution; there is no reliable public data on it, so there is no figure for it here.

06Minimum amount

The smallest purchase is one bond. Its face value is UAH 1,000 for hryvnia issues, $1,000 for dollar issues and €1,000 for euro issues (Source: Міністерство фінансів України, Oct 20, 2026).

The price of one bond is close to its face value but rarely equal to it: it includes the accrued coupon and the seller's mark-up. A bank or broker may also set its own minimums and charge for the securities account, so check them before you buy.

07Main risk

The yield is fixed for the whole term. If inflation or devaluation turn out higher than you expected, the real return shrinks or turns negative. For hryvnia issues this is the main risk, and the figures above show it.

• The state as borrower. The state repays the bond. The risk of non-payment is not zero, and the Deposit Guarantee Fund does not cover it.
• The price before maturity. If you have to sell early after rates have risen, you get back less than you paid.
• The exchange rate. Hryvnia OVDP do not protect against devaluation. Foreign-currency issues do, but they pay less and rarely come to auction.
• The intermediary's mark-up. The more you pay, the lower your yield, especially on short issues.

08How to buy from Ukraine

According to the Ministry of Finance (Source: Міністерство фінансів України, Oct 8, 2026), OVDP can be bought through the Diia app, banks or brokers. A private person does not buy directly from the Ministry: a Ukrainian bank or broker always stands in between.

1. Choose a bank or broker that sells OVDP and open a securities account with it.
2. Choose an issue by currency and maturity date: ideally the bonds mature when you will need the money.
3. Compare the yield to maturity you are offered at several institutions. You can check it in the calculator below.
4. Coupons and the face value are paid into the current account named in your contract.

Diia only passes your application on: the institution you pick sells and holds the bonds on its own terms. The article OVDP and war bonds walks through buying through a bank, a broker and Diia step by step.

09Work it out further

• Work out the yield to maturity of a specific issue at the price you are offered in the bond yield calculator.
• See how much inflation takes over your horizon in the inflation impact calculator.
• The article What are bonds explains the coupon, the face value and the price.
• Compare OVDP with the other options on the Where to invest board, and with deposits on the deposits page.