Russia's Ministry of Finance will begin accepting payments to the federal budget in the country's new digital ruble from the beginning of 2026.
The news comes after the Bank of Russia made its first payment in central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued earlier this year.
Russian Ministry of Finance to process revenue in digital rubles
The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has started accepting budget revenues in digital rubles since January, the head of the government agency has revealed.
Roman Artyukhin made the announcement during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. He said, TASS reported on Wednesday:
“From January 1, 2026, in cooperation with the Bank of Russia, we are ready to accept payments in digital rubles to the budget system.”
“This year, the first payments in digital rubles were also made,” Artyukhin reminded in a video-recorded meeting with Russian government leaders.
From July 1, 2027, the option to use CBDC will be available for all national budget transactions, he added. This was also cited by Russian virtual currency news media Bits.media.
In Russia, the Ministry of Finance is the executive body that supervises the implementation of the country's federal budget, including controlling the operation of budget funds carried out by various administrators and recipients.
It was established in the early 1990s as an organization within the Treasury Department and became an independent federal agency in 2005, although it remains subordinate to the Treasury Department.
Russia is digitizing the Federal Ministry of Finance
Mr. Artyukhin briefed Mr. Mishustin on other developments in which his government agency is involved, such as the establishment of a “digital treasury”, a mechanism based on two government information systems: the electronic budget and the unified procurement system.
The official claimed that the Russian region is benefiting from new technologies introduced by the agency, noting that the budget revenues transferred to the Russian region already this year amounted to 277 billion rubles (more than $2.9 billion).
“The planned amount is approximately 325 billion rubles, which will be transferred to the region by the end of the year,” he elaborated further, noting that the additional funds could be used to support regional priorities.
Artyukhin emphasized that the Ministry of Finance will become Russia's third-largest revenue administrator and that 983 billion Russian rubles of the planned 1,116 billion rubles (more than $14.2 billion) have already been loaned, ensuring the achievement of the latter goal.
Digital ruble currency will appear in 2026
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) began developing the digital ruble several years ago, starting a pilot in 2023 to test the state-issued coin in a trial with a limited number of participants.
The digital version of Russia's Fiat will be gradually introduced to the public in several stages, with the first introduction starting on September 1, 2026.
This is according to the latest schedule laid out by financial authorities after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for widespread adoption earlier this year.
Originally planned to begin in 2025, regulators delayed it by a year to give financial institutions and businesses enough time to prepare and deploy the necessary infrastructure.
As reported by Cryptopolitan, the CBR this month extended the grace period for businesses to not be charged for digital ruble transactions until December 31, 2026.
The bank also revealed that while there are no fees for transfers between personal wallets, other transactions will be subject to the lowest fees on the market (0.3% for payments and 0.2% for utility bills).
Nevertheless, a top adviser to the Bank of Russia recently admitted that he does not expect mass adoption of Russia's CBDC, as digital ruble accounts do not accrue interest, making it less profitable for Russians to keep their funds.
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