Belarus conditions single currency on Russian effort.

MINSK, July 30 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarussian chief banker said on
Thursday the Russian ruble may become a single currency for Belarus and
Kazakhstan only in case it develops into a reserve currency in the CIS.
"To speak about a single currency today or tomorrow it is necessary to
resolve one elementary issue - the Russian ruble has to become a genuine
reserve currency for CIS countries. However nothing is being done for
that," Petr Prokopovich told a press conference on Thursday.
"Unfortunately, our Russian colleagues did not strengthen the Russian
ruble to give it the status of a reserve currency and make it replace
foreign currencies in settlements between CIS countries. As a result,
there is a paradox as the US dollar, not Russian ruble is the main
currency in settlements between Russia and the CIS," he added.
The chief banker also said the Russian ruble may develop into a single
currency only at the final stage of the creation of a common economic
space between former Soviet republics.
"We have always said it should be the final stage of economic
integration. We cannot jump over various stages of our economic
development," he said.
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