Lukashenko said that he agreed with Putin not to introduce a single currency yet

The head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, arrived in Minsk after Tehran. There she held a working meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. They discussed the creation of a single currency, as well as an agreement on the exchange of information in the field of financial market supervision.

“I often quote you, our chairman, at the level of heads of state, when it comes to creating a single currency and so on, that this is not an easy process. And, probably, not today, as we agreed with the President of Russia,” Mr. Lukashenko said (quoted from BELTA). At the same time, he stressed that at the moment the Interbank Currency Council of the Central Bank of Russia and the National Bank of Belarus continues to work.

The draft agreement on the exchange of information in the field of supervision of the financial markets of Russia and Belarus will be considered during a meeting of the Interbank Currency Council of Central Banks – it will be held on Monday in the Minsk region. The meeting will be attended by Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus Pavel Kallaur and Chairman of the Bank of the Russian Federation Elvira Nabiullina.

In September 2020, the head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Leonid Kalashnikov, said that a common currency for Russia and Belarus could appear in a year and a half. In December 2021, Alexander Lukashenko said that this is a higher level of integration, which the countries have not yet reached.

The State Duma also said that a single currency with Belarus could appear no earlier than 2030. Alexander Lukashenko noted that a new currency, and not one of the existing ones, should become a common means of payment.

Anastasia Larina