"SYDNEY, July 19 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey suggested using national currencies in trade with Russia, Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development said Saturday.

"Turkey is offering Russia to switch to national currencies in mutual payments," the ministry's press service announced after the meeting between Russia's Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev and his Turkish counterpart Nihat Zeybekçi in Australia.

The ministers met at the B20 (Business-20) forum, which gathers business leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) members.

The trade volume between Russia and Turkey amounted to $32.7 billion in 2013. Russia is Turkey's second-largest trade partner after the European Union. Turkey ranks eighth among Russia's foreign trade partners.

Russian authorities considered renewing the talks on switching to national currencies in order to decrease the dependence on the US dollar amid tense relations with the West due to the Ukrainian crisis.

The trade volume between the two nations fell 4.5 percent last year but recovered 0.6 percent in the first five months of 2014 due to the growth of Russian export, Ulyukayev said.

"[The fall] is largely explained by the unfavorable global economic environment. Our task is to put maximum effort to preserve the positive dynamics of the bilateral trade," the Russian minister said.

The issue is currently under the revision of the bilateral working group on cooperation in banking and finance.

The Turkish side has also expressed interest in building a t***sport and logistics hub in Russia with links to sea ports, airports, railways and highways, Zeybekçi said. The ministers plan to discuss the issue in Istanbul in September, according to the Russian ministry."

Hey Duchy the one thing you left out was what they contibute. Being in construction for over 40 years now I can tell you this country would shut down overnight. Most building trades are dominated by immigrant labor which I have said for years is why wages have remained stagnant in my area of work. But I think everyone on this forum can agree we are lacking when it comes to finding americans willing to do the hard work that it takes to build this country. Right now I'm at work the only ones on the job are the insulators they have been working 10 to 12 hours a day 7 days a week for the last 2 months and I can tell you right now no one out here is named Bill or Dave it's all hispanic labor. I don't know what the answer is but before we get all wound up and throw all these people out we need to figure how to replace them. Life isn't allways working 40 hours a week in front of a computer, working construction in 100+ deg. heat doesn't seem to rate high on the list of jobs kids aspire to today. I'm not defending i*****l i*********n at all just pointing out the elephant in the room.