Euro, the official currency of 19 out of the 27 member states of the European Union, plunged as much as 0.7% to $0.9880 vs the US dollar as European markets opened on Monday.

Reaching its weakest point since 2002, common European block currency nosedived below $0.99 for the first time in 20 years earlier today.

Euro somewhat rebounded later in the day and was trading at around $0.9922 against US dollar as of 09:45 GMT.

Last week, Goldman Sachs experts slashed their forecasts for the EU common currency to $0.97 over the next three months from $0.99 previously.

Market analysts also forecast the euro will remain below parity with the dollar over a six-month period.

Previously the euro was expected to bounce back to $1.02.

According to some analysts, Russia’s Friday announcement that it would not resume natural gas deliveries to Germany and will shut off its main gas supply pipeline indefinitely, had a strong adverse effect on the European markets and currency.