MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that turning the Russian ruble into a regional reserve currency was an important strategic objective.

"In a period of global financial instability, we need to press ahead with the strategic objective of making the ruble one of the regional [reserve] currencies," the president said at a meeting with the chairman of Russia's state-run VTB Bank, Andrei Kostin.

Kostin replied said that VTB branches in five former Soviet states already carry out ruble transactions. With the dollar being too unstable to be a reliable reserve currency, the ruble has already begun to play the role of a reserve currency in these countries, which he did not name.

He added that Moscow was already becoming a global financial center, but that the Russian leadership should encourage the process.

"An appropriate legal basis and changes in the tax system are required," the bank chief said.

On June 8, the president told the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg that turning Moscow into a financial world center and the ruble into a leading regional reserve currency was central to building a competitive financial system in Russia.