On December 15, 2020, the National Space Management and Testing Center of the State Space Agency of Ukraine hosted the official presentation of the banknote “Leonid Kadenyuk – the first cosmonaut of independent Ukraine”
The first souvenir banknote with a vertical design, dedicated to the Hero of Ukraine, the first cosmonaut of independent Ukraine Leonid Kadenyuk, was issued by the National Bank of Ukraine on November 26, 2020 with a circulation of 50,000 pieces.
The presentation of the banknote was attended by Acting Chairman of the State Tax Administration Mykhailo Lev, Chairman of the Public Council at the State Tax Administration of Ukraine Eduard Kuznetsov, Deputy Head of the Numismatic Products Department of the NBU Money Circulation Department Victoria Suzanska, artists twin brothers Oleksandr and Serhiy Haruki
Acting Mykhailo Lev, the head of the SCA, said that Leonid Kadenyuk was a historical figure not only for domestic but also for world cosmonautics. He thanked the National Bank of Ukraine for popularizing space and informing the general public that Ukraine has been, is and always will be a space state and presented the NBU representatives with thanks from the State Space Agency.
Eduard Ivanovich Kuznetsov, Deputy Director General of the National Space Agency of Ukraine in 1997 and head of flight preparation from our country, shared his memories of a joint space project with the United States, which included the first astronaut of independent Ukraine, and the flight itself. He also brought with him the times and the flag of Ukraine, who traveled in space with Leonid Kadenyuk.
Acting He assured the head of the State Tax Administration that this was only the beginning of perpetuating the memory of Leonid Konstantinovich Kadenyuk. Now work is underway to ensure that Moskovskaya Street, where the State Space Agency is located, is finally named after our astronaut.
“It is extremely important to honor memory, because without the past there is no future, but I hope we still have modern space breakthroughs, in particular, the launch of our own satellite, which we plan to make in the IV quarter of 2021,” added Mykhailo Lev.
It will be recalled that the project to issue a souvenir banknote was carried out by the National Bank together with the State Space Agency in accordance with the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine № 2466 of June 19, 2018 “On perpetuating the memory of the first cosmonaut of independent Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine L. Kadenyuk”.
This is the first time such a banknote has been issued in our country. Thanks to the efforts of artists and employees of the National Bank, the banknote was issued before the date of the Ukrainian astronaut’s flight on the shuttle “Columbia”, which took place from November 19 to December 5, 1997.
In 1997, Kadenyuk flew on the US space shuttle Columbia (STS-87 mission) as part of an international crew.
The Ukrainian astronaut-researcher performed a wide range of works within the framework of a joint Ukrainian-American experiment, the task of which was to study the influence of microgravity on the growth and development of higher plants.
