“The task stands before the government [of Belarus] to trade not in rubles, but in dollars because we pay for energy resources in dollars and not in rubles. This is by the way a deficiency in the government of Russia. [We] should have worked and demanded from them so that they also paid us in hard currency, in dollars or in euros,” Lukashenko said during a meeting on economic issues.
Lukashenko noted that some Russian companies have already started paying for Belarusian goods in dollars. Transactions in rubles are affected by fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, he added.
Commenting on ruble's drastic devaluation, the Belarusian president said that this should not affect cooperation between the two countries.
Russia is the largest economic partner of Belarus, accounting for almost 50 percent of the country's external trade. In September 2014, the trade turnover between two countries for the year reached $28 billion.
In May, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed a treaty on creating the Eurasian Economic Union to enhance their integration and competitive strength.
Under the treaty, the three countries agreed to guarantee the free flow of goods, services, capital and labor, and to implement a coordinated policy in the energy, industrial, agricultural and transport sectors within the union.
