Russia starts using digital ruble for budget payments

Russia’s Treasury will start accepting payments to the country’s federal budget in the nation’s new digital ruble from the beginning of 2026.

The news comes after earlier this year the agency made its first payments in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Bank of Russia.

Russian Treasury to process revenues in digital ruble

The Federal Treasury of Russia is beginning to accept budget revenues in the digital ruble from January, the head of the government agency unveiled.

Roman Artyukhin made the announcement at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. Quoted by the TASS news agency on Wednesday, he stated:

“Starting January 1, 2026, together with the Bank of Russia, we are ready to accept payments to the budget system in the digital ruble.”

“This year, the first payments in the digital ruble were also made,” Artyukhin reminded in a videotaped briefing with the head of the Russian government.

From July 1, 2027, the option to use the CBDC will be available for all state budget transactions, he added, also quoted by the Russian crypto news outlet Bits.media.

In Russia, the Treasury is the executive body overseeing the execution of the country’s federal budget, including by exerting control over operations with budget funds carried out by various administrators and recipients.

Created in the early 1990’s as a structure within the Ministry of Finance, it was transformed into a separate federal service in 2005, although it remains subordinate to the ministry.

Russia is digitalizing its federal treasury

Artyukhin briefed Mishustin on other developments involving his agency, such as the establishment of the “digital treasury,” a mechanism based on two government information systems, the Electronic Budget and the Unified Procurement System.

The official insisted that Russian regions are benefitting from the new technologies implemented by his institution, noting that budget revenues already transferred to them this year amount to 277 billion rubles (over $2.9 billion).

“The planned figure is approximately 325 billion rubles, which we will transfer to the regions by the end of the year,” he further detailed, remarking that the additional funds can be used to support local priorities.

Artyukhin highlighted that the Treasury has become Russia’s third largest revenue administrator, with 983 billion Russian rubles out of the planned 1.116 trillion rubles (more than $14.2 billion) have been already credited, assuring the latter target will be met.

Digital ruble currency coming in 2026

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) started developing the digital ruble a few years ago, launching a pilot to test the state-issued coin in trials with a limited number of participants in 2023.

The digital version of the Russian fiat will be gradually introduced for public use in several stages, with the first one beginning on September 1, 2026.

That’s according to the latest schedule presented by the monetary authority after a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin for its wide adoption earlier this year.

The launch was initially planned for 2025, but the regulator postponed it by a year to give financial institutions and businesses enough time to prepare and introduce the necessary infrastructure.

This month, the CBR extended a grace period during which companies will not be charged for digital ruble transactions until December 31, 2026, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

The bank also revealed that transfers between the wallets of private individuals will be fee-free, while other transactions will incur some of the lowest fees on the market – 0.3% in the case of payments and 0.2% for utility bills.

Nevertheless, a top advisor to the Bank of Russia recently admitted he does not expect to see a mass adoption of the Russian CBDC as digital ruble accounts will not accrue interest, making it less profitable for Russians to keep their money in them.

Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.