The digital ruble is moving from pilot phase to real government usage, with Russia preparing to bring its CBDC into the core of its public-finance system.
Key Takeaways:
Russia will begin accepting federal budget payments in the digital ruble starting January 2026.
Full rollout for all state-level transactions is planned for mid-2027, accelerating CBDC adoption across government infrastructure.
The shift is part of a broader push to digitalize Russia’s treasury systems and modernize public-finance operations.
By the start of 2026, citizens and companies will be able to send payments to the federal budget using the digital currency issued by the Bank of Russia — marking the first time that government revenues will be collected directly in a CBDC.
The update came during a briefing in Moscow, where Federal Treasury chief Roman Artyukhin confirmed that the agency and the central bank have completed the groundwork necessary for accepting the digital ruble. According to Artyukhin, the first small-scale budget payments in the CBDC have already been processed this year, and the infrastructure will now be expanded to handle large-scale usage.
Treasury Modernization Sets the Stage
Rather than being a one-off experiment, the digital ruble is being introduced alongside a broader upgrade of Russia’s budget-management systems. The Treasury is rolling out what it calls a “digital treasury,” linking the Electronic Budget platform with the Unified Procurement System to automate and accelerate transfers across federal and regional structures.
Artyukhin said that regions have already been receiving funds through the upgraded infrastructure with noticeable efficiency gains. More than 277 billion rubles have been transferred so far this year, and the figure is expected to approach 325 billion rubles by year-end. With almost 1 trillion rubles already credited to the federal budget in 2025, the Treasury now ranks among the country’s largest revenue managers.
Full CBDC Integration in 2027
The digital ruble’s role in public finance will continue expanding after the initial 2026 phase. Beginning July 1, 2027, all government-related budget transactions — from federal ministries to local administrations — will be able to operate using the CBDC.
The national rollout has been postponed once already. The Bank of Russia originally aimed to launch the digital ruble for public use in 2025, but delayed implementation by a year to allow businesses and financial institutions more time to develop compatible systems. To encourage adoption, the central bank has also extended a grace period on fees: companies will not be charged for digital-ruble transactions until the end of 2026, and wallet-to-wallet transfers between private individuals will remain free afterward.
Despite this push, policymakers acknowledge that consumer enthusiasm may be slow at first. A key advisor to the Bank of Russia recently commented that the lack of interest-bearing CBDC accounts could discourage households from keeping large balances in digital rubles, making broad adoption a longer-term goal rather than an immediate one.
