The Luhansk People’s Republic, a breakaway rebel area of pro-Russian East Ukraine, has announced it will use the Russian ruble as official currency in the LPR. The Council of Ministers of voted on the issue recently. The move comes after Russia announced it would accept government documents from rebel-held areas as official inside the Russian Federation.
The decision, which comes into force on 1 March, was taken ” to stabilise the financial and monetary system”, LPR’s governing body said. It “establishes that the basic unit of currency in the territory of the Luhansk People’s Republic of the Russian rouble”, reports The Independent.
The moves by rebel areas to further incorporate into the Russian Federation is seen by some as Moscow’s intention to undercut the Minsk peace agreement negotiated by world powers. Moscow recognized Luhansk and Donetsk as independent republics after referendums that were held in 2014.
For Russia’s part, it has said that Russian-speaking areas using the ruble as official currency made sense as in the Kremlin’s eyes, the ruble is an international currency.
