Russian Finance Ministry expects decree on repatriation of export revenue to be extended, considers its application to cryptocurrency logical

MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - There is reason to extend the decree on the mandatory repatriation and sale of foreign currency revenue once it expires in May, and this is the Russian Finance Ministry's overall stance, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said.

"It has always been our overall stance, I think - this has not changed - that, in general, there is reason to extend this decree, and it has reason to exist. Besides the issue of repatriation, there is always the issue of monitoring and control, conducted by Rosfinmonitoring. That is also an important part of the whole mechanism," Chebeskov told journalists in the State Duma.

Asked whether the decree ought to be extended to cryptocurrency transactions in view of their increasing role in payments, he said that there was logic in this.

"It is entirely possible... I cannot comment on that right now, but there is definitely logic in it," Chebeskov said.

The requirement for mandatory repatriation and sale of forex revenue was introduced by decree in October 2023 to ensure the stability of the exchange rate and the Russian financial market. It applies to exporters in the fuel and energy sector, ferrous and nonferrous metals sectors, and the chemical, forestry and grain industries. The specific requirements under the mechanism are set by the government, which in mid-August 2025 issued a resolution to reduce the requirement for repatriation and sale of forex earnings to zero. Prior to this, the largest exporters were required to repatriate at least 40% of forex earned on foreign trade contracts to their accounts at authorized banks, and then sell at least 90% of this forex on the domestic market.

The Finance Ministry has extolled the benefits of the decree on more than one occasion. "Repatriation requirements for the largest exporters were introduced in their time to stabilize the exchange rate on the forex market. As we saw, there was systematic over-fulfilment of the requirements that were set by the government for the transfer and sale of forex revenue. But, nonetheless, this guaranteed some stability. We saw the stabilization of the ruble's exchange rate, meaning the mechanism demonstrated its effectiveness," the director of financial policy at the Finance Ministry, Alexei Yakovlev said in September. "Now these parameters have been reduced to zero. Nonetheless, the infrastructure and the decree itself remain in effect, so if needed these parameters can be reconsidered," Yakovlev said.