Belarusbank has become a fully valid player on foreign exchange in Russia. One of the Belarusian major banks has gained access to trading on Moscow Exchange. During a briefing for reporters, Moscow Exchange’s officials confirmed the trustworthy information and also reminded that earlier two more Belarus’ financial institutions, BPS-Sberbank and Zepter Bank, were authorized to trade there. Besides, specialists from Moscow Exchange note that the trade volume involving the currency pair RUB/BYR has amounted to RUB 4.4 million in the current year. For the time being, such a trade volume does not look spectacular, but analysts seem upbeat about increasing. More than that, the total volume of KZT/RUB (Kazakh tenge vs RUB) trades has constituted RUB 3.4 million up to date.
Banks of the Eurasian Economic Community (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan) got formal admission to foreign exchange in Russia in early February 2013. On the ground of the agreements, banks could set about trading on exchange without obtaining a Russian exchange permit. However, the Belarusian ruble has not been traded for the last three years due to the political and economic situation in the country. The aftermath of the financial crisis should be also mentioned; Russia’s neighbor is still unable to get over it. It should be reminded that in 2010, salaries and wages were raised in Belarus before the scheduled presidential election. As a result, the country fell short of the currency; this led to the financial crisis later on. In May 2011, depreciation of the local currency versus the US dollar was 55%. Afterwards, the Belarusian ruble tumbled versus other foreign currencies to a greater extent.
