Eurasian Economic Union intends to renounce dollar and euro

YEREVAN, December 2. /ARKA/. Inter-country dollar- and euro-transactions may be prohibited in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union, which consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, Alexander Murichev, Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, was quoted by Izvestia newspaper as saying on Tuesday. On Friday, speaking about development of the Eurasian Economic Union’s payment systems and infrastructures at a session held in Kazan, Murichev came up with this proposal. Transition to dealing in national currencies (Russian and Belarusian rubles, Kazakhstan tenge and Armenian dram) is proposed to take place in 2025 to 2030. Murichev said that the concept implies creation of infrastructure of common payment space for the union member countries. The countries’ national card systems’ compatibility will be taken into account. In his words, common payments space in the Eurasian Economic Union will create the necessity of introduction of a multicurrency transaction system or double-quick transition to a single-currency payment space. Along with that, he said, it is necessary to demand that the national banks of the member countries should remove the dollar and the euro from the interstate payment turnover. «According to the statistical reports, about one half of payment turnover among the Eurasian Economic Union countries consists of strange currencies – the U.S. dollar and the euro, and this makes the union more dependent on their economies, since western banks where business partners' dollar or euro accounts are opened take part in any deal of this kind,» Murichev said. Murichev also stressed that successful combination of administrative levers and economic stimulation is needed to solve this problem. For example, it should be effective to prohibit payments in dollars and the European currency. Such a ban is in force now for Russia's residents. He pointed out creation of a single national currency in the Eurasian Economic Union's territory as the next step. Russia's lawmakers hailed the idea of using national currencies of the Eurasian Economic Union member countries instead of the U.S. dollar and the euro. ---0----