The Covid economy accelerated Ukrainians’ flight from cash in 2020

The Covid economy accelerated Ukrainians’ flight from cash in 2020, indicate figures from PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest bank. Last year, Ukrainians’ transactions with PrivatBank terminals increased by 31% yoy, to the hryvnia equivalent of $11.5 billion. Spending in pharmacies was up 40%, to almost $1 billion. Spending food stores was up 48%, to almost $6 billion. Spending on clothes and shoes was down 1.6%, to almost $900 million.