Holdings of Ukrainian domestic government bonds by individuals continued to rise sharply at the start of the year, underlining growing retail interest in one of the country’s most popular investment instruments amid relative currency stability and attractive returns, reported Ukraine Business News.

At the beginning of 2026, individuals held more than UAH117bn ($2.7bn) worth of domestic government bonds, known as OVDPs, according to market data. During 2025 alone, Ukrainians increased their bond portfolios by UAH33.5bn, or nearly 43%, lifting the share of bonds held by individuals within the total volume of government securities in circulation from 6% to 8.6%.

The trend has continued this year. Since the start of January, individuals have invested more than UAH5bn in government bonds, raising their share of the total market to around 9%. The structure of retail portfolios has also shifted, with hryvnia-denominated instruments becoming increasingly dominant. The proportion of local-currency bonds held by individuals rose from 50% at the start of 2025 to 59% by year-end, and further to 59.2% in early 2026.

Analysts at investment firm ICU said strong demand was driven primarily by high yields and the tax-free status of OVDP income for individuals. Another important factor was the relative stability of the hryvnia exchange rate against the dollar throughout most of 2025, which reduced currency risks for local investors.

“Hryvnia OVDPs remain the most attractive investment instrument on the domestic market,” ICU experts said, noting limited alternatives with comparable returns and risk profiles.

However, they cautioned that yields on hryvnia-denominated bonds could begin to decline as early as February. The National Bank of Ukraine is widely expected to start easing monetary policy in January by cutting its key discount rate by 50 basis points. By the end of the year, the benchmark rate could fall by as much as 200 basis points to around 13.5%, potentially reducing returns on new bond issues.

Despite this, analysts expect retail interest in government bonds to remain strong, particularly if macroeconomic stability is maintained.