Russian govt to start using digital ruble in budget process as of Oct 1 - bill

MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - The Russian government has submitted a bill to the State Duma on the gradual introduction of the digital ruble into the budget process that will make it possible to pay a portion of federal budget expenditures in digital rubles using Federal Treasury accounts starting October 1, 2025.

The bill to amend the Budget Code (No. 924067-8), which has been posted in the parliament's electronic database, will introduce the concept of a Treasury digital ruble account, opened by the operator of the digital ruble platform, the Central Bank, to carry out budget transactions.

A memo attached to the bill said there will be a gradual transition to using the digital ruble in the budget process. Beginning October 1 the use of digital rubles will be limited to budget expenditures that the government approves with the Central Bank. This experiment will continue to the end of the year.

"After the end of the experiment, starting January 1, 2026, federal budget expenditures will be made using the digital ruble without restriction by a specific list," the memo said.

At the same time, starting January 1, 2026, it will be possible to use the digital ruble to collect federal budget revenue, and transfer funds by the federal budget and autonomous institutions.

There are plans to expand the mechanism to regional and municipal budgets, as well as state extra-budgetary funds starting July 1, 2027. This deferral is needed to fine-tune the Federal Treasury's information systems to use the digital ruble for the relevant expenditures, the memo said.

It was reported earlier that the Russian authorities planned to use the digital ruble in budget settlements. The Finance Ministry and Central Bank carried out the first tests of the digital ruble in the budget process in December 2024.