Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced in an interview with the Russia-1 TV channel on Saturday that Moscow will be switching to national currencies when engaging in energy trade with other countries

According to Novak, already most transactions are made in these currencies, primarily Russian rubles and Chinese yuan. Going forward however, the Kremlin will eliminate the use of the dollar and the euro in its trade for energy exports altogether.

Novak said, “The trends have changed greatly toward reducing the use of dollars and euros. Considering the current problems with these currencies, in our settlements we are switching almost exclusively to national currencies.” The problems he referenced were in relation to the practical usage of the currencies due to the economic sanctions placed on Russia by the Western powers over the military conflict in Ukraine. The sanctions have made it effectively impossible for Russia to perform any transactions in euros or dollars.

Saying, “Our partners in China are already paying for gas in yuan, as well as partly for oil. They also pay in rubles,” he went on the pledge,  “We will continue to improve these mutual settlements in national currencies.”

Novak went on to say, that due to the strong demand for Russia’s energy products, the country requires settlement mechanisms “which can only be in national currencies under the current circumstances.”

Previously Novak had told TASS news agency that he would predict that in the coming years, the share of transactions in national currencies will continue to grow.

Last year, as Russia came to find the euro and the dollar “unreliable” as tools of trade settlement due to the sanctions levied by the West, it significantly increased its use of national currencies in trade as it moved away from the dollar and euro.