The prime ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries on Friday approved a concept for energy cooperation in the region.

CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev told a press conference after the meeting in the southern Ukrainian city of Yalta that the blueprint would regulate the joint construction of energy projects in CIS countries, joint exploration and use of alternative energy sources.

He also said a nuclear cooperation deal reached by Russia and Ukraine on the same day was a "practical implement" of the cooperation concept.

According to the Kiev-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency, CIS heads of government also exchanged views on the fight against the financial crisis and discussed such issues as the development of international transport corridors, cooperation in the innovation field and use of national currencies for trade settlement.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin said CIS countries could drop the U.S. dollar and start using their national currencies in trade settlement within the next few years.

"The CIS heads of government endorsed a plan to phase out the U.S. dollar," he said.

Initially, national currencies, primarily the ruble, will be used alongside the dollar, Kudrin said, adding they are already in use in some aspects.