Ukraine has a strict law that prohibits to accept any other currency but Ukrainian Hrivna, it works in 98% cases, sometimes if all you have is dollars a restaurant may accept it, giving you not the best exchange rate, as you could expect, but no way shops accept USD. However there are dozens of currency exchange offices around the city, especially in the central part. One American Dollar costs approximately 5 Ukrainian Hrivnas(the rate changes all the time), one English pound is 10 Hrivnas. If you bring over the cash you will not have problems exchanging it into Ukrainian currency.
The other option is to bring Travelers Cheques, Thomas Cook and American Express are the common one. If you decide to bring the cheques, please make sure you save the immigration card they gave you on the plane flying into Ukraine, you are going to need this paper in the bank, bank needs to have a look at the exact days of your arrival. The banks usually charge 2% commission for the withdrawal using cheques.
Bringing a credit card can be a good idea if your credit card company doesn't charge a lot for cash withdrawal. It would also be a good idea if you let them know that you are going to Ukraine. Otherwise they might not allow the transactions made in Ukraine as it's not a regular place of your residence. Not like in the US or Western Europe in Ukraine it it still not very common for cafes and restaurants to accept payments by credit cards, however some places do accept them, but those are probably 10% of all the quantity!
This tip is provided by supplier M18791
