Firn---this one is especially for you---check out the last sentence and tell me if you think they slipped and told the truth or is it a bad translation on their part?


Taken from Interfax today:
April 02, 2014 15:32 Russia should settle in rubles with all trade partners - Kostin

MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - It would make sense for Russia to switch to settlements in rubles with all trade partners, Andrei Kostin, the head of VTB (MOEX: VTBR), said at the Congress of the Association of Russian Banks.

"It's an old topic, the broader transition to settlements in rubles with our trading partners. We need to start at once. Not just with settlements in the framework of the customs Union and CIS, but also in relations with trade partners like China and Western Europe," Kostin said.

He said the transition to ruble payments ought to be one of the key tasks for the banking system, Central Bank and government.

The euro zone and dollar zone currently account for half of Russia's export and less than half of the country's import, "and the United States as such just 2% of export and 5% of our import," Kostin said. He said exporters, particularly state ones, above all ought to make the switch.

"Aggregate exports by Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP), Rosneft (MOEX: ROSN) and Rosoboronexport are almost $230 billion a year, which is 44% of Russia's entire export, Kostin said.

He said the departure from settlements in dollars was long overdue and that the topic should be re-addressed now. "For a month now we have been hearing calls from senior figures in the West to isolate Russia after virtually destroying our banking sector, using the modern financial 'nuclear arsenal' of dollar settlements," Kostin said.

Firn---so a slip of the tongue or the truth?

Doubt seriously most EU or US companies would settle in Rubles and if they did the exchange rates would be a determent to Russia.