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Parliament speaker urges settlements in national currencies in Eurasian Union

A single currency may appear only when it will be in demand from the national economies of the four countries, the speaker of the Russian Federation Council upper house of parliament says
Valentina Matviyenko Artyom Geodakyan/TASS
Valentina Matviyenko
© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member countries should more actively use national currencies in mutual settlements, the speaker of the Russian Federation Council upper house of parliament said on Wednesday.

“This is a major step that would be useful for the national economies of the EEU countries,” Valentina Matviyenko told reporters, adding however that the EEU countries should not rush into a single currency.

“A single currency may appear only when it will be in demand from the national economies of the four countries,” she said, noting that it had taken the European Union long to adopt a single currency, and even now not all EU countries were ready to join the eurozone.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Federation Council ratified a treaty on Armenia’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union.

The Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan came into existence on January 1, 2010. In May 2014, the presidents of the three countries signed an agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union, which comes into effect on January 1, 2015.

Before that date, the parliaments of Belarus and Kazakhstan must ratify the treaty on Armenia’s joining the EEU.