Russian ruble goes into official circulation in Crimea as of Monday

MOSCOW, March 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian ruble begins official circulation in Crimea as of Monday. Its introduction embraces all the financial transactions and all types of payments if at least one of the parties to them is a resident of Russia. As Itar-Tass reported earlier, some tertiary industry outlets in Simferopol, including hotels and restaurants, started accepting rubles without awaiting March 24. Price tags showing the prices in rubles and Ukrainiany hrivnas have appeared in department stores but they so far mostly cover the commodities the price of which exceeds 1,000 hrivnas. Under the Law of the Russian Federation of the Reunification of Crimea with Russia, the Russian ruble becomes the monetary unit in the Republic of Crime and the city of Sevastopol. Parallel circulation of the hrivna there is permitted through to January 1, 2016. Bank and cash payments are admitted. As of March 24, 2014, taxes and fees in Crimea and Sevastopol will be paid in rubles only and wages to the workers of budget-receiving organizations will also be made in rubles. The same regulation applies to any other payments where one of the parties is a resident of Russia. -0-kle