ALMATY, September 6. /ARKA/. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is in a position now to create a regional settlement currency, including a blockchain-based currency, Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) board chairman Andrei Belyaninov said at a Eurasian Media Congress in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

According to him, today the situation across the Eurasian Economic Union is extremely advantageous, for which he expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump for slapping a long string of sanctions against Russia.

"The sanctions appeared to be instrumental in our efforts to consolidate internal resources, create a single economic space, form infrastructures within this space and develop them," said Belyaninov.
He said the EDB is currently a bit aggressive across EEU, has very ambitious plans and wants to make itself known, but this is hampered by a lot of incompetent and illiterate judgments about the current situation in the economic markets.

‘We are in a position to create a regional settlement currency. I believe that it should be the ruble, although there are other points of view, for example, a blockchain-based currency,’ said Belyaninov.

"Sanctions are imposed on us, but there are crazy opportunities. We should consider the EEU not only from the point of view of cooperative ties. We are entering a stage where we are able to generate ideas, although we are still swallowing the dust of the departing train, but we need to get ahead of events and look at the future,’ concluded Belyaninov.

The Eurasian Media Congress, organized by the EDB, is taking place near Almaty on September 5-8. About 60 representatives of the leading media from the EDB member states have gathered for the event. The plenary session is devoted to the coordination of macroeconomic policy, the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, as well as to the investment interaction of the EDB countries and the role of development institutions in EEU.

A number of panel discussions are also planned to discuss the development of the partnership between the EEU and other integration blocs.

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution established by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 to promote development of the market economy of the participating countries, their sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and economic ties. The authorized capital of the EDB is $7 billion. The participating states are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. --0--