KIEV, Nov. 21 – The National Bank of Ukraine hopes that stability on the currency market will be established as soon as a bill introducing criminal responsibility for attempts to sell dollars or euros in cash on the shadow market is adopted.

"[The unofficial sale of foreign currency in cash] will be considered tax evasion, and not an administrative violation. Speaking about especially big sums, criminal responsibility will be introduced [for shadow operations with currency]," the chairman of the NBU's committee for the prevention of dishonest foreign exchange operations, Yuriy Horshkov, said in a statement posted on the central bank's Web site.

As reported, bill No. 11433, which foresees the introduction of a fee to the Pension Fund on the sale of foreign currency at 15% of the transaction amount, was registered in parliament on November 16.