Over the past five years, the Russian government has made certain progress in its struggle against the dependence of the Russian economy on the US dollar. The share of the US dollar in the structure of Russia's currency operations decreased from 79.6 to 67.3 percent from 2013 to 2018, a recent report conducted by audit and consulting company FinExpertiza said.
As an alternative to the American currency, Russia started using the euro more frequently. The share of the euro rose from 9.1 percent in 2013 to 17.3 percent in 2018. The increase in the share of the euro was made possible largely due to Russian trading partners, especially China, which sharply increased the share of euro payments for Russian goods. For example, the share of payments in euros amounted to only 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2018, but by the end of the year it had grown to 13.5 percent.
The decline in the share of the US dollar in the Russian economy is taking place against the backdrop of the growing significance of the Russian ruble. The ruble share increased from 10.2 to 13.6 percent over the indicated period. The significant growth became possible owing to Russia's trade partners such as India (from 1.1 to 37.2 percent) and Belarus (from 53.4 to 78.2 percent).
The Russian ruble has become the main currency in Russia's exports to the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States during the recent five years, the report said.
After the introduction of US sanctions in 2014, Russia started pursuing a policy to reduce the dependence on the dollar in international payments. European authorities currently consider a similar opportunity, as Europe also remains unhappy about the domination of the US dollar in international payments.