© Sputnik / Dmitriy VinogradovAn S-400 air defense missile system.
The minister added that the euro is currently the alternative to the dollar, with US currency used only when there's no other way.
"We are using various schemes, including settlements in rubles," Manturov said in an interview with Russian daily RBC. "National currencies of our partners are used along with rubles purchased on the stock exchange."
The minister stressed that all contracts on delivery of the S-400 air defense missile systems are clinched either in rubles or in local currencies of the buyer countries. So far, supply contracts on the air defense systems have been signed with India, Turkey and China.
Indian authorities agreed on supplies of S-400 systems at the beginning of October. The deal worth $5.4 billion was clinched during Russian President Vladimir Putin's two-day visit to New Delhi. India was also planning to purchase Russian T-14 Armata tanks and guided-missile frigates. The country is also planning to develop submarines and next-generation fighter jets in cooperation with Russia.
In December 2017, Turkey and Russia clinched a deal worth $2.5 billion on the purchasing of two Russian-made S-400s. China was the first foreign nation to purchase S-400 systems. Beijing signed the deal on supplies of up to eight units of the S-400 equipment as early as in 2014. The contract value was estimated at around $3 billion. In September, the US State Department imposed sanctions on the Chinese military for buying Russian military hardware.
The S-400 is a long-range air defense system designed to protect strategically important sites like key infrastructure objects, military units or ballistic missile launch silos against enemy aircraft and missiles. The system is capable of destroying multiple aerial targets at an extremely long range of up to 400 kilometers (nearly 250 miles).
'Let's switch to euro': Russia backs EU's bid to shift away from dollar
Since both Russia and the EU are not dollar-based, it would be more beneficial for both to switch to euro in energy resource trading, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said in an exclusive interview to RT.
One of the leading figures in charge of Russia's economy, Oreshkin, sat down with RT correspondent Ilya Petrenko, to discuss a wide range of economic issues - from the current state of the ruble to cooperation with foreign players.
The minister believes Russia-EU economic ties are currently experiencing a real "renaissance," adding that despite all the political "buzz" the number of bilateral projects is rapidly increasing. Meanwhile, Moscow fully backs the bloc in its recent initiative for wider use of the euro in the international arena, especially in the energy industry, said Oreshkin.
"If you look [at Russia's relations with the EU]...you will see cooperation and support from Russia in the current plan of increasing the role of the euro which was recently introduced by the European Commission," the minister told RT.
The EC issued its proposal to boost the common European currency on December 5 in an apparent bid to challenge the dominance of the US dollar. The Russian economic development minister stressed that while for Russia the share of the dollar in trade is declining, it seems irrelevant to continue trading with its EU partners in dollars, given that both Moscow and European states do not use it as a national currency.
"Russia is not a dollar country, Europe is, you know, not dollar based... but for some reason we're trading energy resources in dollars," Oreshkin said. "So I believe we should think about switching at least to the euro as a more common currency both for Russians and the Europeans."
During the interview, the minister also noted that the trade turnover between Russia and Europe saw "double digit" growth over the past two years - 23 percent in 2017 and 21 percent in 2018. At the same time, Moscow and its European partners are engaged in a vast number of projects, including large scale ones, such as the construction of new nuclear reactors in Hungary and Finland, as well as the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.
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