European Central Bank not against Russia using the euro as a reserve currency

The European Central Bank will not prevent Russia from using the euro as a reserve currency. The Chairman of the European Central Bank, Willem Duisenberg, spoke about this at a news conference in Moscow on Monday.

"The position of our Bank is not to hamper other countries in general from using the euro as a reserve," he specified.

Willem Duisenberg also said that the new members of the European Union in the near future "will have to go over to the use of the euro in international payments. In this connection, the head of the European Central Bank expressed concern that "the new countries very much depend on oil exports from the Russian Federation." At present, Russia's oil is paid for in dollars.