Russia forces exporters to sell currency revenues to help stabilise ruble

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is forcing exporters to sell chunks of their foreign currency revenues in a bid to help stabilise the ailing ruble, according to a report.

The central bank confirmed that an order obliging the country's largest state exporters to relinquish millions of dollars worth of foreign currency reserves has been signed. Kommersant daily newspaper said the policy may provide the market with around $1bn daily.

The report added that Gazprom, Rosneft, Zarubezhneft and diamond producer Alrosa have been sent the orders.

News of the order has pushed the ruble up 4.6% against the dollar at 53.35 and 65.27 versus the euro.

Russia's central bank said consultations with exporters aimed at maintaining stability on the FX market were underway.

"Steady forex revenue sales during the year is beneficial both for the support of forex market stability and for hedging risks of exporting companies," the central bank told Reuters.

The Russian ruble has lost around 40% of its value since the summer, as falling oil prices have battered the country's export revenues.

The country has already tried to stabilise the currency by hiking interest rates to 17%; this has so far failed to have the desired effect.

The Russian government has warned the economy is facing recession in 2015, predicting earlier this month it would contract by 0.8%.

The central bank has also had to bail out Trust Bank, one of the country's mid-sized lenders, following the dramatic collapse of the Russian ruble.

Trust has been placed under the central bank's supervision, and will also receive 30 billion rubles (£340m, $530m) in order to stave off bankruptcy.