OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2009. VEB’s Chairman calls for using national currencies in mutual over-the-counter settlements between CIS countries.

Vnesheconombank (VEB) Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev believes that the use of national currencies in mutual settlements between CIS countries would help strengthen these currencies.

“If the largest CIS countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan start making mutual settlements in national currencies and, above all, in rubles we can secure these national currencies’ sustainability”, Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev told Interfax-Kazakhstan Agency on Monday.

In the current crisis situation, it is crucially important for banks to secure reliability of settlements and maintain industrial potential at an appropriate level”, he stressed.

In this respect, V. Dmitriev thinks that it is advisable that CIS countries should use national currencies in their mutual payments for OTC products, the price for which is not set in foreign currency.

“Although it also makes sense to transfer to rubles taking into account that we are going to set up a commodity exchange including an oil and gas commodity exchange”, he thinks.

“The countries that are dependent on international reserve currencies and at the same time have the potential for making payments in national currencies, sooner or later tend to recognize the necessity to rely on their national currencies” said V. Dmitriev.