Russians purchase more euros

The volume of euros purchased by individuals in authorized Russian banks surged 82.4 percent to 700.99m in a dollar equivalent in January 2003 compared to December 2002. Sales of euros by individuals dropped by 5.4 percent to 103.14m in a dollar equivalent in January 2003 against the last month of 2002. The total volume of foreign currency purchased by Russian residents in January 2003 amounted to about 1.847bn in a dollar equivalent, which was 48.6 percent more than in December 2002.