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Next step in Russian-Japanese cooperation might be settlement in national currencies

According to Herman Gref the scope of cooperation with Japan will grow

VLADIVOSTOK, September 3. /TASS/. The scope of the Russian-Japanese cooperation will continue to grow, the next step might be settlement in national currencies, Head of Sberbank Herman Gref said.

"Given this political message, I think that the scope of cooperation with Japan will grow and of course, the next step will be the transition to settlement in national currencies," Gref said. 

Banks will play a key role in digitization of the Pacific Rim countries economy, Head of Sberbank Herman Gref said.

"Banks might take one of the first places in this process. All the topics that were discussed, including settlements in foreign currency, all the exchange of financial information and all transactions will be carried out in digital form. Creating appropriate infrastructure is one of our main tasks," he said. 

Earlier in the day Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists that Japan and Russia have overcome the stagnation stage in the economic relations of four months ago, 

"The situation changed after four months - in April we talked about the fact that we are in stagnation with Japan, now it has changed. I think this is a historic opportunity for us, and the parties understand that, in order to compensate for this stagnation and return to the positive trend in our relations," Ulyukayev said.