Karabakh launches own currency – Russian report
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
9 Sep 05
YEREVAN
One million copies of the currency of the unrecognized Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic (NKR) – the Karabakh dram – has been put into
circulation, the president of the Central Bank of Armenia, Tigran
Sarkisyan, said.
The decision to issue the Karabakh dram has been taken by the NKR
government and the NKR Ministry of Economy and Finance is the office
of issue. In fact the dram is a collector’s item for numismatists, but
formally it can be used as a payment instrument in Armenia as well,
Sarkisyan said.
Specimens of the new currency “were circulated all over the world and
have already raised interest among the collectors”, added Sarkisyan
who also heads the All-Armenian Academy of Philately and
Numismatics. This ” will give millions of people an opportunity to get
to know Nagornyy Karabakh”, he added.
For over 12 years NKR has been using the official currency of Armenia
– the Armenian dram.
NKR’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Narine Azatyan said in
Stepanokert that the Karabakh currency was issued in banknotes of two
and 10 drams and coins of one and five drams and 50 lum [one dram is
equal to 100 lum]. There are no plans to issue other denominations
yet.