BISHKEK, November 25. /TASS/. Kyrgyzstan and Russia use rubles for more than 90% of their trade transactions, Russian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Sergey Vakunov said at a press conference in Bishkek.

"Over 90% of trade transactions between our countries are conducted in rubles," he said.

According to him, despite the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries, trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and Russia increased by 27% in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period last year.

This comes amid the fact that most Kyrgyz banks have currently stopped working with Russian banks that are under sanctions. According to Vakunov, the banks in the republic "were forced to take such measures" as otherwise, they could have lost the ability to work with the SWIFT system.

The Russian Ambassador also noted that negotiations are currently underway between the two countries regarding the opening of branches of Russian banks in Kyrgyzstan.

Last year, the volume of trade between Russia and Kyrgyzstan reached $3.1 billion, and in the coming years, the countries plan to increase this figure to $5 billion.