KIEV, Dec. 10 - The National Bank of Ukraine intends to include the Russian ruble as a forex reserve, thereby increasing the diversification of gold and forex reserves in the country, the NBU's Governor, Volodymyr Stelmakh, told Interfax.

"We could hold onto reserves including those in Russian rubles: the monetary fund [the International Monetary Fund] has approved this," he said.

"Now our reserves will include the Russian ruble," Stelmakh said.