Digital Ruble Bill is Passed by the Russian Parliament

The legislation would now send to upper chamber of the Russian Federal Assembly and, if approved, would forward to the president’s desk for further consideration.

Digital Ruble, Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, appears to be closer to reality. On July 11, the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, approve the digital ruble bill in the third reading. The bill is now forward to the upper chamber, the Federation Council, and if approved, would be forward to the president desk for further consideration.

The legislation, which was last altered at the end of June, lays down the legal definitions of platform, participants, and users, besides the broad guidelines for the CBDC ecosystem.

In the present framework, Russia’s central bank, the Bank of Russia (BOR), would turn as the major handler of the digital ruble infrastructure. It would also take the responsibility for all the keep assets.

According to the BOR the main purpose of the CBDC, is to provide the payment and transfer method. Therefore, its customers would not be capable to open savings accounts. As the BOR said, payments and transfer would be free of cost for individual users and would cost 0.3% of the payment amount for corporate users.

The legislation was proposed to the State Duma in December 2022, and approved after its first reading in March 2023. In February, a subordinate of the leading Russian government-owned gas company, Gazprombank, alert despite of probable risks for banks due to fast conversion to digital money. The Russian branch of Mckinsey predicted the significant losses of conventional banks from the CBDC execution about 250 billion rubles in five years. On the other hand, the consultancy firm foresee retailers’ profit at $1.1 billion yearly.

In the current interview, Olga Skorobogatova, the deputy chairman of the central bank, reported the huge spread of digital ruble for all Russian citizens by 2017. The CBDC would be examined in a pilot program in the middle of 2023 and 2024.