Think tank urges Rada to pass SEPA bill tied to $1.4bn in funding

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada should vote for bill No. 14327-d on joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the Ukrainian think tank Centre for Economic Strategy (CES) said on 13 October, arguing that delay puts about $1.4bn in linked financing and the country's EU path at risk. The bill has not yet passed even a first reading, and the CES post does not report any vote outcome.

The CES made its case on its Telegram channel, which carries its podcast "Що з економікою?" ("What about the economy?"). Its arguments rest on remarks by a co-author of the bill and by a CES economist. They are advocacy positions and estimates, not official figures.

What SEPA would change

SEPA is the European payments area that lets euro transfers between participating countries work like domestic ones. CES describes it as a "financial visa-free regime" with Europe, enabling Ukrainians and businesses to send euro payments abroad faster and more cheaply.

MP Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk, one of the bill's authors, estimates that Ukrainians and businesses could save up to UAH 10bn a year. She said 57 of Ukraine's 59 banks are technically ready to apply to join.

The account register at the centre of the bill

To qualify, Ukraine must strengthen its anti-money-laundering controls. The bill therefore provides for a register of individuals' bank accounts and safe-deposit boxes. Ten law-enforcement bodies would get direct, instant access to information on which banks a person holds accounts or safes in.

Vasylevska-Smahliuk said the register would not give access to account balances or transaction history, which still requires a court decision. She said anti-corruption and law-enforcement bodies can already learn where a person has accounts by sending requests to banks, and the register would speed this up.

She also argued the register would protect people from having their data misused. In her words, it would help prevent a person who does not understand the scheme from being turned into a "drop", an unwitting intermediary used for possible tax evasion and illicit money flows.

$1.4bn tied to the reform

According to CES, about $1.4bn in financing is linked to the reform:

• $1bn from the World Bank, within a package of measures in which SEPA is one of the conditions;
• nearly $400m from the European Union under the Ukraine Facility, for meeting the SEPA condition.

CES argues that Ukraine is delaying a reform its partners are paying for in advance, and that would start saving money once launched.

Timeline and EU risk

CES economist Bohdan Slutskyi said passing the law is only the first step. Ukraine must then submit an application, have it reviewed by the European Payments Council, and prepare its banks. He said the process took Moldova almost two years.

He called 2028 a "very optimistic" launch date. It would be possible only if the Rada passes the bill in first and second readings immediately and the president signs it without delay. If the bill is not adopted by the end of 2026, Slutskyi said, Ukraine would most likely begin using SEPA no earlier than 2029.

Slutskyi also said failure would be reflected in the European Commission's report on Ukraine. He warned that further delay would weaken Ukraine's position and raise the risk that Moldova advances toward EU membership faster and separately from Ukraine.

The outcome of any parliamentary vote on 13 October could not be confirmed from the source material. RealUA found no earlier coverage of the bill.