OREANDA-NEWS.  Estonian kroons can be exchanged for euros free of charge in Swedbank until the end of 2013. From 1 January 2014, kroons will only be able to be exchanged at the central bank museum.

Head of Swedbank’s Retail Banking Division Ulla Ilisson says that the amount of kroons brought in to Swedbank in 2013 has only been around half that of 2012 – ca. 15.5 million kroons or the equivalent of around 1 million euros. “The amount of kroons being exchanged has dropped off dramatically, so the Bank of Estonia and the larger banks have agreed that accepting them is no longer practical for commercial banks,” she explained. “The Bank of Estonia will be able to handle this on its own starting from the new year.”

The amount of kroons brought to Swedbank in 2012 was 35 million or the equivalent of ca. 2.2 million euros.

“Since there’s less than a couple of months left of 2013, we’d like to remind people again that they can bring their kroons to the bank and exchange them free of charge only until the end of this year,” Ilisson said.

The large commercial banks in Estonia have been exchanging kroons for euros in cooperation with the Bank of Estonia for the last three years. They were only obliged to do so for six months according to the law, but because Estonians had a lot of kroons in their possession the decision was taken to accept them for a three-year period.