[jerryem]

But you got to remember that there is more U.S dollars in circulation in the ex-Soviet states than there is in the U.S. I don't think it would be a wise move to play monopoly with the U.S.dollar.
On a visit to the Ukraine when shopping in Kiev I could get a 25% discount against the hryvnia marked price at most stores when paying in dollar bills. I also remember seeing long queues of hundreds of people in Moscow at money changing machines, this was when the U.S. changed the series of the dollar bills, these machines ( I believe the only ones in the world )only changed old series notes for new ones.

[M. Espinola]

From your own experience would you say the U.S. Dollar or the Euro is more in circulation in the former Soviet Union?

I don't blame you on the exchange end when buying products, I would have done the same. My previous comments were geared toward the overall Putin strategy in terms of America, which in my opinion is very adverse.