Work on the transition to national currencies in mutual settlements between the EEU countries has accelerated, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an enlarged meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC).

According to him, the process of creating a common payment infrastructure and integration of national systems and the transfer of financial information has begun.

He also noted that tariffs and energy prices in the EEU countries are fundamentally different from those of their neighbors in the West. "Well, let's say, the difference in gas prices in the EEU and the European Union is 10 times or more different, not by any percentage, but 10 times or more," Putin said, adding that such figures set the appropriate conditions for economic development.

The Russian leader agreed with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that the EEU countries should work more effectively to eliminate remaining customs and administrative barriers, as they hinder free trade between the countries. "It's true. They hinder free trade between our countries, and we have to work on it more vigorously," he said.