Austria: National Bank Extends 90-Days Rule Until 19 November 2013

On 6 November 2012, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted changes to the Law of Ukraine "On the Procedure of Carrying-Out Settlements in Foreign Currency", dated 23 September 2004, No. 185/94-BP, as amended, granting the National Bank of Ukraine ("NBU") the power to amend for a term of up to six months the term for crediting to the exporters' accounts of currency proceeds under export contracts. These changes to the law entered into force on 17 November 2012. In the past, the NBU passed a Resolution dated 16 November 2012, No. 475 (which entered into force on 19 November 2012) which introduced the "90-days" rule.

On 14 May 201,3 the NBU issued a Resolution "On the Change of Terms for Payment for Export and Import of Goods and Establishment of the Compulsory Sale of the Foreign Exchange Earnings" #163 and Resolution "On the Establishment of the Amount of Compulsory Sale of Foreign Exchange Earnings" #164.

The "90-days" rule is extended until 19 November 2013

This rule means that the currency proceeds from the export of goods and services must be credited to the exporter's account within 90 days either of the receipt of customs clearance for the export transaction or of the confirmation of service delivery. Similarly, the same timeframe applies to the import of goods and services for which a prepayment was made by a Ukrainian importer.

Obligatory sale of currency proceeds

The rule that the currency proceeds of exporters in currencies of the 1st Group Classification (this group includes, in particular, EUR and USD) have to be exchanged into UAH at the interbank currency market on the day after such proceeds arrive in the exporters' bank account has also been extended until 19 November 2013. The amount of the currency proceeds subject to such mandatory exchange remain the same (i.e., 50%).

Also, starting from 28 May 2013, any money transfers in foreign currency (1st Group Classification and RUB) amounting to or exceeding an equivalent of UAH 150,000 per month that are received by private individuals from abroad must be converted into UAH. This rule is also effective until 19 November 2013.

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