MOSCOW, Fenruary 26. /TASS/. Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk republic is switching to a multicurrency financial system, the unrecognized republic's leader Igor Plotnisky announced Thursday.
"The ruble, the hryvnia, the dollar and other currencies convenient for us will circulate in the republic," Plotnitsky said, adding the move to switch to a multi-currency financial system was due to the hryvnia’s sharp devaluation and Kiev’s continued economic blockade of the east Ukrainian region.
The LPR leaders earlier said the republic would keep the hryvnia as the basic currency in the short term but might switch to settlements in rubles in the long run.
"We have discissed the multi-currency zone before and could see that everything was moving in that direction, although there was hope that we would be able to survive in the hryvnia zone, in which we stayed. But we can clearly see the result of what has happened: the hryvnia’s sharp fall and its depreciation," Plotnitsky said.
"That is why, we’re introducing a multicurrency system for our republic’s financial provision," he added.
"If people have a possibility to work with rubles, let them do it. If they can trade in dollars, euros, let them do that. That is, we’re giving an opportunity to level off the economy so that people can see prices have leveled off," the LPR head said.
"As soon as the market levels off, we’ll see, which currency is acceptable," he added.