Russia could start using rubles in oil trade in five years, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told journalists today, RBC reports. In his opinion, the possibility for such a transition depends on a wide range of factors, such as a stable Russian economy, a stable ruble, stability in Russia's foreign trade and economic growth. The Minister stressed that transferring to a new currency in oil trade was technologically difficult.
Meanwhile, Kudrin believes that despite all the heavy fluctuations, the dollar is still much more stable than the ruble. Although the Russian currency has shown a fair degree of stability in the short and the mid terms, the country is still apt to great capital flow risks and changes in current account positions, he said, adding that the stability Russia has shown over the past eight years was still not long enough a period for the global market to consider prices quoted in rubles as stable and reliable.