BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 17
By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:
Last week, the volume of money transfers from Uzbekistan to Russia by the latter's "Zolotaya Korona" (Golden Crown) system increased by 50 percent and exceeded the figures for transfers in the opposite direction, which decreased by 30 percent, compared to 2019, Trend reports referring to Uzbek media.
Company representatives attribute that to the depreciation of the Russian ruble.
On March 9, while Russian markets were closed following International Women’s Day, the value of the ruble on the online exchange Forex plummeted, leaving the Russian currency at 75 per dollar and 85 per euro. When the Moscow Exchange closed on Friday, it only took 68 rubles to buy a dollar and 80 to buy a euro. The prices of Russian stocks on the London Stock Exchange also took a nosedive.
According to the Golden Crown director - Ivan Sitnov, this situation is associated with the short-term effect caused by a sharp decline in price of certain goods in dollar equivalent, such as machinery. He predicts that the phenomenon of the reverse flow of money from the CIS countries to Russia will last for several weeks until the prices for various goods are balanced.
According to the Central Bank of Russia, in 2019 about $13 billion was transferred from Russia to CIS countries. The leader among the countries that receive money is Uzbekistan with $4.7 billion. Next come Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, with transfers to these countries amounting to $2.5 billion and almost $2 billion respectively.
During the same period, Russia received $3.4 billion from the CIS countries, with only $333 million from Uzbekistan.
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