Bank of Russia accused of slowing down implementation of digital ruble

The Bank of Russia is slowing down the implementation of the digital ruble for political reasons. The regulator accused State Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin of deliberately delaying the process, as quoted by NSN.

The economist stated that the so-called Central Bank with the “legendary unreliability of mass-implemented digitalization systems,” due to which the implementation of the new currency format is being slowed down, is far from being a priority.

"I think the problem is with the liberals who run the Central Bank. One of the main goals of the digital ruble is to get out from under Western sanctions, because the digital ruble is settlements between central banks. In addition, the digital ruble allows for smart contracts, which make it impossible to misuse money in principle. And if we limit corruption, what kind of money will we take out of Russia to the South? This is also absolutely unacceptable for Russian liberals," Delyagin explained.

The day before, the Bank of Russia postponed the start of the mass implementation of the digital ruble to September 1, 2026. From that moment,6 the Central Bank specified that trading companies with an annual revenue of more than 120 million rubles, which are clients of the specified banks, will have to open the infrastructure for digital rubles and provide the ability to pay for goods and services with them. Smaller organizations will receive a one-year deferment, the smallest businesses will join the program as early as 2028.

Speaking at the plenary session of SPIEF-2025 a week earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Central Bank and the Cabinet of Ministers to accelerate the introduction of the digital ruble, noting that its use should be widespread.