Russia Launches Vote to Chose Ruble Symbol

MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) ­ The Russian Central Bank launched a public competition Tuesday to find a symbol that will represent the ruble alongside other major world currencies.

For the next month, visitors to the Central Bank’s website can vote for one of five variations on the letter R in both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.

“Written symbols for currencies have appeared with the development of national economies, commensurate with the currency’s involvement in international trade,” the Central Bank said.

In recent years, Russia has striven to extend its global economic reach.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has championed a drive to make Moscow an international financial center and called for the ruble to become one of the world’s reserve currencies.