YEREVAN, December 4. /ARKA/. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member countries need to create a single payment space with settlements in national currencies, VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said on Friday speaking at the First Eurasian Congress organized by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).

“We see that the ruble is gradually becoming the main means of payment, and this is the task that is on the agenda today - the creation of a single payment space with settlements in national currencies,” said Kostin.

According to him, one should not wait for the complete construction of the architecture in the field of legislation. He noted that banks can largely act as a locomotive for economic development and integration. He also noted that a single borrowing market is gradually being formed between the EEU member states.

“More and more companies and EEU countries are interested in placing their bonds in rubles. Of all the EEU countries, ruble rates are the lowest  today. We are also preparing the issue of ruble bonds for the Food Contract Corporation of Kazakhstan,”Kostin said.

The First Eurasian Congress was organized by the EDB. Its main topics are the prospects for the formation of Greater Eurasia, an assessment of the potential for economic integration, the possibility of equalizing the levels of economic development and the welfare of citizens of the EEU countries.

EDB is an international development bank established by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 to promote the development of market economies in the member states. The member countries of the bank are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

The Eurasian Economic Union currently comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Moldova has observer status. --0--