OVDP for individuals: how to buy, what is the yield and whether it is possible to lose money

A OVDP is essentially an interest-bearing loan to the government: you buy a bond, and the Ministry of Finance pays back the face value on a specified date plus coupon income. For an individual, this is a way to invest hryvnia or foreign currency with a higher projected return than a regular deposit, and without an intermediary bank that takes away its margin. We tell you how to arrange it from the phone, what is the real yield and where are the pitfalls.

What is OVDP and who is responsible for them

Domestic state loan bonds are issued by the Ministry of Finance, and placed and serviced by the National Bank. By buying OVDP, you are effectively lending money to the government for a fixed term - from a few months to several years - and in return you receive either a regular coupon (as interest) or a discount: the bond is sold cheaper than face value and is repaid at face value.

The risk here is not tied to a specific bank, but to the state's ability to service its own debt. This is a different type of risk than in a deposit, where everything depends on the specific banking institution and the Deposit Guarantee Fund.

How to buy OVDP for an individual in 2026

There are practically three ways for a private person:

• Through an agent bank. The easiest way is to open a securities account with a bank that has the status of an OVDP placement agent and buy the bond directly in the mobile application. The list of banks and their conditions can be checked on the page banks on the website.
• Through the Diya application. The state has made the purchase of OVDP as simplified as possible for individuals — account registration and the first purchase take about 15-20 minutes, the minimum entry threshold is low.
• Through a broker in the secondary market. An option for those who want to buy not at the primary auction, but an already issued bond with the desired maturity — here the yield and price are formed by the market every day.

In all cases, the money first goes to your securities account, from there it goes to buy bonds, and after repayment, it comes back the same way - with live money to a card or account.

Hryvnia and currency OVDP: what is the difference

The Ministry of Finance issues bonds both in hryvnias and in dollars or euros. The logic is simple: hryvnia OVDPs usually give a higher yield, because they compensate for the inflation risk and devaluation risk, while currency bonds have a lower yield, but they protect against exchange rate fluctuations, because you keep the denomination in dollars or euros, not in hryvnias. If you plan to keep your savings in dollars, it is useful to first look at the dynamics on the page dollar exchange rate, to understand when a currency is relatively expensive or cheap to buy bonds.

Exact rates of return on current auctions and the secondary market change every week - you should focus on the latest data from the Ministry of Finance or the agent bank at the time of purchase, and not on figures from past news.

OVDP versus deposit: what to choose

If you have already considered a hryvnia or foreign currency deposit, it makes sense to compare it with OVDP — the logic of choosing a currency there is similar in many respects, and we wrote about this in more detail in the article about deposits in hryvnia or foreign currency. The main difference is who is responsible for your money and how easy it is to exit the instrument early.

Is it possible to lose money on OVDP?

Formally so, and it is worth understanding three real scenarios:

• Sale until maturity. If you need money urgently and you sell the bond in the secondary market early, the price may be lower than what you bought it for - especially if there are few buyers in the market at the moment or the rates on new issues have increased.
• Inflation risk. Even with coupon income, the actual return (adjusted for inflation) may be less than expected if prices rise faster than expected at the time of purchase.
• Issuing country risk. The theoretical and least likely scenario is problems with servicing the public debt. It exists in any state in the world, and that is why the yield of OVDP lays down a certain premium for this risk.

If you hold the bond until maturity and don't panic because of price fluctuations on the secondary market, the basic risk of losing the face value or coupon is minimal — the government historically fulfills its domestic debt obligations even in difficult periods.

Taxation of income from OVDP

An individual's income from domestic state loan bonds traditionally has a preferential tax regime compared to a deposit — part of the burden that falls on a bank deposit is not applied here. But the tax rules for financial instruments are periodically revised, so before buying you should check the current tax conditions directly in the agent bank or application through which you buy the bond - there this information is always synchronized with the current legislation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum amount for the purchase of OVDP by an individual?

The entry threshold is low and rising for most — the exact minimum amount depends on the specific bond issue and the bank or application through which you buy. To compare conditions, it is convenient to look at the pages of different agent banks in the section banks on the website.

What happens to the OVDP if money is urgently needed before the maturity date?

The bond can be sold on the secondary market on any business day, and the money will arrive in the account faster than with a classic deposit with termination of the contract. Minus - the sale price depends on the current market conditions and may be lower than the one at which it was purchased, if the rates on new issues have increased since the time of purchase.

Is it more profitable to buy hryvnia or currency OVDP?

There is no universal answer: the hryvnia usually gives a higher nominal yield, but carries the risk of devaluation of the hryvnia for the entire holding period; currency reserves retain purchasing power in dollars or euros, but with a lower yield. The decision depends on the currency in which you have real future expenses — and you should be guided by the current dynamics of the exchange rate on the page exchange rates before converting the savings into a currency bond.