By year's end the dollar may cost about 30 rubles

The ruble's exchange rate against the dollar by the end of this year may be roughly 30 rubles per dollar. This is the forecast made by Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as he addressed on Tuesday a meeting of the Club of Directors of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

According to him, the average annual exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar is currently "slightly more than 29 rubles per dollar".

As regards the dollar/euro ratio, the average annual rate will be 1.25 dollars per euro, and by the end of the year will drop to 1.18-1.20 dollars per euro, Dvorkovich believes.