ArmInfo. Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan is making consistent efforts to prepare the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) for introduction of a single currency, Vladimir Lepekhin, Head of the EEU Countries' Institute, said.
"I think this is the key mission of quite a gifted Armenian financial expert. As a rule, such processes are rather complicated and their successful completion needs at least 50 years," he said, adding that the EEU will probably have a single currency by 2025.
Stressing the importance of creation of a single currency in the EEU space, Lepekhin pointed at the serious work being done in the Eurasian Economic Commission to that end. He noted that the creation of the common currency in the EEU will become possible due to hundreds of serious events, part of which has already been implemented.
As regards the lack of progress in Armenia's economic development over the 2 years since Yerevan joined the EEU, Lepekhin says that Russia itself and other members of the EEU have also experienced hard times.
"Armenia joined the EEU in the quite a hard economic period for Russia - decline in oil prices, Ruble depreciation, western economic sanctions against Russia - the period when the Russian budget lost 1/3 of its revenues. This could not help having a negative effect on the other EEU member states, including Armenia," he stressed.
In this light, the Russian expert thinks that one should not expect any instant positive changes from Armenia's EEU membership. However, he is convinced that a number of development programs planned within the frames of long-term cooperation will have a positive effect on the Armenian economy.