Belarus and Russia undergo de facto transition to settlements in national currencies - Overchuk

MINSK. June 4 (Interfax) - Belarus and Russia have undergone a de facto transition to settlements in their national currencies, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said.

"We truly have become independent in our mutual settlements. Last year, 99.1% of mutual settlements were in our national currencies. Therefore, we have de facto moved to settlements in national currencies," Overchuk said in a speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026) on Thursday.

"And, essentially, this is convenient. Nobody forced anybody. Everyone did that because it really is convenient, and businesses are taking advantage of that," he said.

Overchuk also said that Belarus and Russia were implementing a series of very important projects in the field of integration and import substitution, concerning production operations in a range of different industries. "This concerns microelectronics, aircraft construction, automobile manufacturing, special machine building and metallurgy. All this is very important for the independent development of our countries," he said.