"[Head of the DPR Alexander] Zakharchenko will place the staple foods basket and the state’s price policy under personal control due to the hryvnia exchange rate’s collapse," Leshchenko said at a meeting that discussed efforts to restore damaged facilities in the DPR and streamline the work of local communal services.

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) may partially switch to the ruble in trade with Russia, chief of the DPR administration Maxim Leshchenko said on Thursday.

Donetsk republic permits use of world currencies amid shortage of Ukrainian cash

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has allowed financial transactions in several foreign currencies, such as the US dollar, the euro and the yuan, because the Ukrainian national currency, the hryvnia, is in short supply, the Donetsk Republic’s representative in the Contract Group, Denis Pushilin, told the media Thursday.

"Hryvnia supply is wearing thin. We have allowed the circulation of some foreign currencies, including the dollar, the euro and the yuan. This is a temporary measure. It remains to be seen whether we shall keep the hryvnia. Printing our own currency is a costly affair. That’s a fundamental question," said Pushilin, a deputy speaker of the Donetsk Republic’s legislature.

Luhansk republic switches to multi-currency financial system

Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk republic is switching to a multicurrency financial system, the unrecognized republic's leader Igor Plotnisky announced Thursday.

"The ruble, the hryvnia, the dollar and other currencies convenient for us will circulate in the republic," Plotnitsky said, adding the move to switch to a multi-currency financial system was due to the hryvnia’s sharp devaluation and Kiev’s continued economic blockade of the east Ukrainian region.