Ukraine's Central Bank not going to completely outlaw Russian rubles

"We have no plans to further ban Russian ruble banknotes in Ukraine," NBU Deputy Governor Oleh Churii told a briefing on October 26.

He also mentioned that the regulator had earlier barred Ukrainian banks from accepting Russia's new 200-ruble bills featuring places of interest in the Russian occupied Crimea.

Answering the question whether the circulation of the ruble in Ukraine is feasible from the economic point of view, the official noted that the turnover of certain currency is conditioned by demand and supply on the market.

"If there is a demand now, in particular, for the Russian ruble, we are not going to prohibit banks from handling it and making money on it," he added.

Read alsoNBU bans Russian banknotes, coins with images of Ukraine’s occupied territoriesAs UNIAN reported, the National Bank of Ukraine on October 13 forbade Ukrainian banks to conduct transactions with Russian banknotes and coins featuring images of sites located in the Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.

The NBU decision came in response to a statement by the Russian central bank of October 12 on the introduction of new 200-ruble bills with symbols of the occupied city of Sevastopol: the Monument to the Scuttled Ships and an image of Tauric Chersonesos.

In March 2014, Ukraine lost the peninsula as a result of an unrecognized referendum in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as the Kremlin claimed it part of the Russian Federation.

Since August 7, 2014, the National Bank has ordered Ukrainian banks to suspend all types of financial transactions in areas not controlled by the Ukraine government.