The digital ruble, a new form of Russia’s national currency, was scheduled to go into circulation on July 1, 2025, but retailers have been slow to prepare for it and banks have complained that deploying digital ruble infrastructure is too expensive. Perhaps the deadline will be postponed for two years, RBC reports.
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A bill has been prepared in the State Duma and sent to the government, ordering stores to provide customers with the opportunity to pay in digital rubles – large chains must be ready to accept the new form of national currency from July 1, 2025, and smaller players are given the opportunity to receive a deferment for several years. The Ministry of Trade prepared a response to the bill, proposing to postpone the deadline for two years – this will help market participants to organize the operation of the software, train staff and prepare other related changes. In its current form, the document proposed by parliament can create risks for trade, and it is impossible to assess them due to the lack of rules for working with the digital ruble, the Ministry of Trade noted.
The Association of Retail Trade Companies (AKORT) called for no strict deadlines and the introduction of a two-year transition period; The Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT) recalled that there are no rules for the operation of the digital ruble yet, so it is not possible to estimate the cost of time and resources for its deployment. Representatives of the banking sector also called the introduction of a new form of currency a difficult task – for one bank, preparing the appropriate infrastructure will cost from 85 million to 200 million rubles.
The 13 largest banks in Russia, included in the list of systemically important credit institutions, are required to provide clients with the means to work with the digital ruble by July 1, 2025; in another year, banks with a universal license must do this, and on July 1, 2027, this is expected from banks with a basic license. Banks required to join the digital ruble pilot project that fail to do so by July 1, 2025 will be subject to fines, said the head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina.
To reduce the costs of preparing infrastructure, universal solutions are needed, industry participants say – the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is now studying the possibility of launching a single mobile application and platform for transactions with the digital ruble. There is also a proposal to build a single platform to which all credit institutions can connect – this will help them save on their own developments. According to one possible scenario, commercial banks may be burdened with additional responsibilities when processing transactions with the digital ruble, aimed at combating the financing of terrorism and money laundering, although it was previously assumed that only the Central Bank would take on these functions.
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