OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2009. The members of the Commonwealth of Independent States intend to ditch the US dollar in settlements among one another, Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoted Igor Suvorov, President of the CIS Interstate Bank, as saying.

According to him, ditching dollar and using national currencies in mutual settlements will reduce the cost of transferring money by dozens of times.

"Settlements between the CIS banks are made through the US or western European banks. Others from the faraway countries benefit from commission fees and transfers take up one to two days. There is a need for a single payment and settlement system. The CIS Interstate Bank may be an operator for this system,” he added.