MOSCOW-Russia says it has found an international partner ready to help lessen its reliance on the U.S. dollar by trading in rubles: North Korea.
Speaking in Russia's Far East town of Vladivostok, Minister of the Development of the Russian Far East Alexander Galushka said that Russia will start trading with North Korea in rubles this month and aims to increase the bilateral trade tenfold by 2020.
Moscow is trying to reduce its dependence on the West after the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions against several Russian top officials, businessmen and some banks in a move to punish Russia for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. As a part of this plan, Moscow wants to give its currency a greater role on the international scene and switch part of global trade to rubles.
Currently, the overwhelming bulk of Russia's trade is carried out in dollars. Moscow already settles some of its deals with some ex-Soviet neighbors and China in their local currencies.
Mr. Galushka said that, although the size of bilateral trade between Moscow and Pyongyang rose by 64% in 2013 compared with the preceding year, it was still modest at $112.7 million. He said this figure should be boosted to $1 billion by 2020.
He didn't elaborate on how much of this trade will be ruble-denominated, or what the two countries will trade with each other to produce this rapid expansion.
The idea of using the ruble in international trade was first put forward a decade ago and gained more support after 2008 when Russia began floating the idea of turning Moscow into a global financial center.
In late April, Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said that the government was working closely with export-focused companies to make them switch international trade to rubles.