MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. The Zaporozhye Region in southern Ukraine needs about four months to give up the Ukrainian hryvnia and switch over to settlements in Russian rubles, member of the chief council of the regional military-civil administration Vladimir Rogov told TASS on Sunday.
"In our specialists’ estimates, we will need about four months or, perhaps, slightly less, to completely get rid of the hryvnia," Rogov said.
The Zaporozhye Region is re-setting peaceful life on its territory, the regional official said. During the past three months, there were periods when the hryvnia was no longer in circulation while the rules were unavailable yet. The hryvnia was inaccessible as the Ukrainian authorities and banks immediately blocked any possibilities for people to get money, he explained.
Also, the head of the regional Ukrpost post office service left the liberated territories with millions of hryvnias intended for social payouts, Rogov said.
‘That is why, we greatly welcomed the initiative by [Russian] President Vladimir Putin to pay out 10,000 rubles [about $150] to each person from vulnerable groups of the population, first of all, retirees, families with many children and other categories. Today these payments are underway and thousands of people have received these payouts and these funds help re-launch the economy," he said.
The member of the chief council of the regional military-civil administration earlier said that 70% of the Zaporozhye Region had been liberated. However, the Ukrainian military is still holding the city of Zaporozhye - a regional center where almost a half of the regional population lives.