Forget Tanks. It’s Russia’s Ruble That’s Conquering East Ukraine
As a wobbly cease-fire keeps eastern Ukraines warring factions apart, Russias ruble is conquering new territory across the breakaway republics.
In Donetsk, the conflict zones biggest city, supermarkets have opened ruble-only checkout counters to serve the fighters in camouflage lining up along pensioners. Bus and tram tickets come with a conversion from Ukraines hryvnia to the Russian currency. Gas-station workers are paid in rubles because thats what their rebel customers use to fuel their armored jeeps.
There are no problems in shops, they all accept rubles, said Natalya, 36, a hairdresser buying groceries for her parents, who declined to give her surname for fear of reprisals. They dont always have small change, but they can give you chewing gum or a cigarette lighter instead.
The rubles creeping advance shows how the troubled regions are slipping further from the governments grasp, even as a peace accord brokered by Germany, France and Russia calls for the nation of more than 40 million to remain whole. Separatist officials havent yet made their currency plans clear. The precedent in ex-Soviet countries from Georgia to Moldova shows that similar shifts can help entrench pro-Russian insurgents.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-04/forget-tanks-it-s-russia-s-ruble-that-s-conquering-east-ukraine