According to recent reports, Russia has decided to delay the launch of its pilot project for the digital ruble until after the adoption of regulatory frameworks, which is expected to occur in early May. Initially, it was announced that the CBDC would be launched in April 2023. However, the launch has now been postponed to the end of the month or the beginning of May. Despite this delay, Russian banks have expressed their willingness to proceed with experiments involving digital ruble transactions and activities.
The delay was attributed to Anatoly Aksakov, the Head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, who stated that the legislative framework for implementing the ruble was not yet ready. The bill had only passed the first reading in the Russian Parliament Duma when the CBDC launch was initially announced.
Two leading banks, Alfa Bank and Soyuz Bank, have already expressed their readiness to start testing the CBDC with real clients. Vitaly Kopysov, the director of innovations at Sinara Bank, believes that smart contracts can make deals more transparent and reduce the operational load of banks. This can help reduce the chances of misuse of government and banks’ funds and ultimately simplify the control over existing contracts.
The Central Bank of Russia has announced that the number of banks participating in the pilot project has decreased from 15 to 13, indicating that only 13 banks have confirmed their participation in the event and will proceed with a limited number of clients.
