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Crimea to switch to double-currency regime by weekend - Crimean Deputy Prime Minister

Parallel circulation of the hryvnia is permitted through January 1, 2016

SIMFEROPOL, March 24. /ITAR-TASS/. All retail and service institutions in Crimea will start taking Russian rubles along with Ukrainian hryvnias by the end of this week, Crimean First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev told journalists on Monday.

There would be also double price tags available, he added.

 Rustam Temirgaliyev is hopeful that the dual currency situation in Crimea will normalise in two to three weeks.

“There is a short transitional period of two, maximum three weeks underway now,” he said.

Temirgaliyev asked the residents of Crimea to refrain from rushing to banks to exchange money.

“There is a rather large amount of rubles already available in the Republic of Crimea,” he said.

According to Temirgaliev, rubles are already used as payment currency, yet there is an issue with ruble circulation.

“Banking institutions for necessary payments have not yet been founded. A banking system in Crimea will be completed by April 15,” he said.

Furthermore, “some major retailers are not legal entities in Crimea’s territory, they are Ukrainian legal entities and were not taxpayers in the peninsula’s territory”. These companies were advised to temporarily have themselves registered under a simplified procedure to become taxpayers, said Temirgaliev.

Temporary proposals on accounting and registration and tax regulations are to be adopted at the State Council meeting on Wednesday and will be temporarily effective until January.