According to Reuters, Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft has fully switched the currency of its contracts to euros from U.S. dollars in a move to shield its transactions from U.S. sanctions, its Chief Executive Igor Sechin said on Thursday.

Rosneft’s switch to the euro is seen as part of Russia’s wider-scale drive to reduce dependence on the dollars.

"For now, this is a forced measure in order to limit the company from the impact of the U.S. sanctions", Sechin said.

Reuters reported earlier this month that state-controlled Rosneft set the euro as the default currency for all its new export contracts.