EUR withdrawal in Ukraine / Turkey

Julie_F86

Hi, we are currently travelling in Ukraine & Turkey and are trying to figure out the best way to withdraw +5,000 Euro from our UK account. Does anyone have any idea what would be the most cost-effective way? We thought about using Transferwise to transfer the amount into our Ukranian bank account and then exchange this to Euros, but the costs are very high. Alternatively, it might be easier in Turkey as HSBC has branches there. Has anyone had any experience with EUR cash withdrawals in these countries? 

Voyager2002

May I ask why? There is no cheap way to do this, but there may be more cost-effective ways to achieve your objective.

Personally, I would (i) use Transferwise or similar to get hold of the required amount in Hryvna (Ukrainian currency); then (ii) look for a moneychanger interested in cutting a deal. The ones who are in tourist spots and spend most of their time selling Hryvna for Euro and so on might be interested in buying Hryvna for less than they would pay the bank.

Don't hold out any hopes about HSBC: while they make much of their global network in advertising, they are no more helpful with this kind of thing than any other bank.

Westin

Agree, I think you might need to explain more about your end goal.  No cheap way of drawing Euro out in those non-euro currency countries that I can think of.  If you can find an ATM that dispenses € Euro I would expect it would be like the TravelCorp ATM’s over here at our airports where a poor fx rate is used just for the convenience (novelty) of getting USD$/EUR€/YEN¥ from a U.K. ATM machine.

eDicky

But cash euros in UK and carry them with you..?

It's also hard for me to imagine what your objective might be...

zagfles

I noticed some ATMs in Turkey offered the option of EUR withdrawals. These were in tourist areas. No idea what the charge was. Or just draw out local currency and go to a money changer - again no idea what they'd charge but probably a lot less than here!

Julie_F86

Thank you for your replies. We would require the cash to pay for professional fees. In the current climate, they prefer EUR payments which we weren't aware of before we left the UK a few weeks ago. 

Voyager2002

Julie_F86 said:

Thank you for your replies. We would require the cash to pay for professional fees. In the current climate, they prefer EUR payments which we weren't aware of before we left the UK a few weeks ago. 

Presumably they accept clients from their own country and are quoting in Euro for the convenience of international clients. I suggest that you make it clear that you will be paying in local currency. (If they are offering a hefty discount for paying in Euro, ask them for details of their Euro account to pay by bank transfer.)