MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Circulation of the key world currencies may be allowed in the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) along with the hryvnia, LPR Prime Minister Gennady Tsypkalov said Monday.
Tsypkalov said the Kiev authorities artificially create a deficit of cash in the LPR. This "affects all spheres of life activity of our republic and the living standard of our citizens, who may lose the opportunity to simply buy food in a shop," the LuhanskInformCenter quoted Tsypkalov as saying.
"We have to state that along with the hryvnia, which remains the key legal tender, other currencies available to citizens: pounds, dollars, yuans, yens and euros — may be allowed for circulation in the republic’s territory," he said.
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Conflict in eastern Ukraine
Thousands have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands have fled Ukraine’s south-east as a result of clashes between Ukrainian troops and local militias in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions during Kiev’s military operation, conducted since mid-April 2014, to regain control over parts of the breakaway territories, which call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics, according to UN data.
A ceasefire was agreed upon at talks between the parties to the Ukrainian conflict mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 5, 2014 in Belarusian capital Minsk two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed his plan to settle the situation in the east of Ukraine.
Numerous violations of the ceasefire, which took effect the same day, have been reported since.
A memorandum was adopted on September 19, 2014 in Minsk by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE. The document outlined the parameters for the implementation of commitments on the ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014.
The nine-point memorandum in particular envisioned a ban on the use of all armaments and withdrawal of weapons with the calibers of over 100 millimeters to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line from each side. The OSCE was tasked with controlling the implementation of memorandum provisions.
A "day of silence" in eastern Ukraine began at 09:00 a.m. local time (07:00 GMT) on December 9, 2014. It was seen as another attempt by both parties to the intra-Ukrainian conflict to put an end to hostilities. Both Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics voiced the necessity to start withdrawal of heavy armaments, swap prisoners and demilitarize the region.
The situation in the region deteriorated when a passenger bus bound from Donetsk to Zlatoustovka was shelled on January 13. Twelve civilians were killed and 16 wounded.