Russian ruble will be the common means of payment in Russia and Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed that the Russian ruble will be the common means of payment in the Russian-Belarussian Union from 2005. "The union state will have a common currency starting from 2008, and I do not know yet what currency it will be," the president said, Ria-Novosti reports. Russian-Belarussian unification is based on economic integration and its core is the common currency and common emission center, Putin said following the Minsk session of the Supreme State Council on Thursday.