Ukraine’s National Cashback: Up to 15% Back on Ukrainian-Made Goods

In Ukraine, starting September 2, 2024, a system has been running where the state returns part of the purchase price to buyers when they buy goods made in the country: “National Cashback” (Національний кешбек). The refunded money goes onto a dedicated card and can be used to pay for utilities, medicine, Ukrainian-made food, and more.

The program has been rebuilt several times over these two years, and from May 2026 it entered a second stage under a new Cabinet resolution. What follows is based on the text as it appears in the Verkhovna Rada’s legal database as of September 24, 2026, and on announcements from the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture (hereafter, the Ministry of Economy) and other bodies.

It began with a Cabinet resolution in August 2024

The basis is Cabinet Resolution No. 952 of August 20, 2024. It set out an “experimental project” under which the state would pay money to buyers of Ukrainian products, within the framework of the “All-Ukrainian Made in Ukraine Economic Platform” (Зроблено в Україні), and payments began on September 2, 2024. It was originally called “Cashback ‘Made in Ukraine’”; Resolution No. 1122 of September 24 that same year renamed it “National Cashback.”

Here is how it works. Buyers open a dedicated account (card) at a participating bank and agree to share information on transactions from the card they use day to day with the program. They then select that dedicated account as the recipient in the e-government app Diia (Дія) (see also this article on Diia’s e-passport). When they buy Ukrainian-made products with the card at participating stores, the product data from the electronic receipt sent to the tax authority is matched against the bank’s payment data, and the refund amount is calculated the following month.

What qualifies is goods that the manufacturer has registered. The text of the resolution lists products whose barcode (EAN-13) begins with 482, and books from Ukrainian publishers (with an ISBN beginning with 978-617 or 978-966), among others. Excise goods such as alcohol and tobacco are not included (with some exceptions, such as wine). On the store side, a condition of participating is operating under the general taxation system rather than the simplified taxation system.

Under the original text from August 2024, the refund rate was a flat 10%, with a minimum refund per person of 2 hryvnias a month and a cap of 3,000 hryvnias.

What the refunded money can be used for

The refunded money cannot be withdrawn as cash and cannot be transferred to another account. What it can be used for is set by the text of the resolution, and that range has changed over time.

• The August 2024 text: payment for services designated by the merchant category code of the participating store (telecommunications, utilities, restaurants, etc.), purchase of military bonds, and support for repelling Russia’s armed aggression and for national defense and reconstruction
• From November 22, 2025: utilities (electricity, gas, heating, water), postal services, Ukrainian-made food, Ukrainian-made medicine and medical devices, books and printed matter, and donations to charities

On the November 2025 change, the Ministry of Economy explained that because the state’s “Winter Support” payment of 1,000 hryvnias to every citizen is also paid onto the same card, it aligned the uses of the two programs. It said this was meant to direct the state support money toward “basic, necessary spending.”

From a flat 10% to 5% and 15%

Under Cabinet Resolution No. 234 of February 16, 2026, the refund rate changed starting with purchases made on March 1. For each product category, the share of imported goods among what sold is calculated; categories under 35% get a 5% refund, and categories at 35% or above get 15%. The Ministry of Economy said this was meant to encourage people to choose domestic goods in categories facing stiff competition from imports, and that it would not increase the program’s overall budget.

According to a February 2026 announcement from the Ministry of Economy, the categories at 15% include non-food items such as cosmetics, detergents, household goods, repair and construction materials, clothing, and footwear, as well as hard and soft cheese and some pasta and grains. The 5% category covers most food — confectionery, soft drinks, meat, dairy products (other than cheese), bread, vegetables and fruit — along with pharmacy items and others. Which category falls into which rate is decided by an order of the Ministry of Economy and can be updated once a month.

In March, fuel was added to the refund. Under Resolution No. 342 of March 18, 2026, the rates are 10% for gasoline, 15% for diesel, and 5% for liquefied petroleum gas. The Ministry of Economy said this was a temporary measure against the sudden rise in global oil-product prices caused by worsening conditions in the Middle East, and reported that around 2.3 million people used it between March 20 and May 31.

The second stage, from May 2026

On April 29, 2026, the Cabinet, in Resolution No. 559, redefined “National Cashback” once again as an experimental project. It runs from May 1, 2026, for as long as martial law continues, but no later than April 30, 2028. The 5% and 15% refund rates and the 3,000-hryvnia monthly cap remain unchanged, and existing participants, stores, and manufacturers were carried over automatically. The text sets eligibility at Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and over.

The deadline for using the money is split into two stages. Money received for purchases through April 2026 was originally to be used by June 30, but Resolution No. 838 of July 1 extended that to July 31, with unused amounts returned to the state budget. Money from purchases made in May onward can be used starting August 1, 2026, with a deadline of the last day of the month in which martial law ends, or April 30, 2028 at the latest. The May and June amounts were combined and paid out together in August.

The text also provides that payment depends on the state budget. The December refund is to be paid the following February, and if the next year’s budget contains no money for the program, the calculation of refunds stops from January 1 of that year and the December amount is not paid either. Calculation of refunds ends on March 1, 2028. In a March 2026 announcement, the Ministry of Economy said the refunded money is not taxed and is not counted when determining subsidies or preferential treatment.

The scale of use, in numbers

The scale of use has been announced by the Ministry of Economy and others at various points. All figures below are as reported by the announcing body.

• As of January 16, 2025 (Ministry of Economy): a cumulative 1 billion hryvnias in refunds, of which 388.4 million hryvnias had been paid out. About 4.7 million active users, and 355,443 eligible products. The number of participating banks grew from 10 at launch to 20
• November 6, 2025 (Ministry of Economy): explained that the August payment was delayed because there were more participants than expected and the approval process took time; said the August payment, at 509 million hryvnias, would be the largest yet. Over 7.3 million participants, with a cumulative calculated refund of over 5 billion hryvnias
• February 16, 2026 (Ministry of Economy; remarks by Minister of Economy Oleksii Sobolev): 4.9 million active users, with cumulative purchases of eligible products topping 63 billion hryvnias
• March 1, 2026 (Ministry of Economy): cumulative refunds paid out topped 6.7 billion hryvnias
• June 30, 2026 (Ministry of Digital Transformation): more than 5 million people receive payments every month. About 1,500 participating sellers, over 2,000 manufacturers, and over 422,000 products

Even for the same period, the numbers differ greatly between “participants” and “active users.” The “over 7.5 million participants” figure from November 2025 and the “4.9 million active users” figure from February 2026 are counted differently. When comparing announcements, it’s worth paying attention to which figure is being cited.

Other support measures under “Made in Ukraine”

Cashback is one of the support measures the Ministry of Economy groups together under the “Made in Ukraine” policy. The Ministry describes this policy as an initiative launched by the President, meant to attract investment in producers, increase output of higher-value-added products, and boost demand for domestic goods. As of September 2026, the Ministry’s page lists the following among its main support measures:

• The “5-7-9%” loan program for small and medium-sized enterprises
• Compensation of up to 25% of the price for farmers who buy Ukrainian-made agricultural machinery and equipment (for machinery with a localization rate above 60%)
• Compensation of 15% of the cost of buying Ukrainian-made energy, construction, vehicle, and specialized equipment (localization rate of 40% or more; an experimental project under Resolution No. 952)
• Grants for processing-industry companies (up to 8 million hryvnias, up to 50% of project costs), grants for starting or expanding a business, and business grants for veterans and their spouses
• Domestic-content requirements in public procurement (20% or more for urban transit, public-works vehicles, rolling stock, and energy equipment)

Where loans and grants support producers, cashback tries to increase demand for domestic goods from the buyer’s side. The terms of the loan program are covered in this article on the ‘5-7-9’ SME loan program.

Can people living outside Ukraine use it?

Judging from the requirements in the text, refunds apply to purchases made at registered participating stores in Ukraine, within Ukraine’s electronic-receipt system. Where the refunded money can be spent is also limited to participating domestic stores whose payments are handled by a Ukrainian bank. A Ukrainian citizen living in Japan does not become eligible for a refund by shopping in Japan. Whether someone who already holds a dedicated account can use it for something like a family member’s utility payments back in Ukraine cannot be determined from the text alone, so please check with the bank holding the account or with the Ministry of Economy.