Russian Central Bank to Test Digital Ruble Smart Contract Functions in Tatarstan
Russia’s Central Bank has asked the Republic of Tatarstan to help it test a range of digital ruble smart contract functions. The Russian media outlet Business Gazeta reported that the Central Bank has “approached the leadership of Tatarstan” with “a proposal to pilot” some of the CBDC’s “mechanisms.”
Digital Ruble Smart Contract: Tatarstan Testing Ground
The republic’s Ministry of Finance says it has responded by creating a working group that will help launch the digital ruble in Tatarstan.
The ministry said that it would use the Central Bank’s “test platform” to “carry out experimental conditional spending of targeted funds for selected purposes.” The announcement comes less than a month after the bank “indefinitely delayed” the CBDC’s national rollout, originally slated for August this year. This led many to speculate that the coin launch plans could be scrapped altogether, under pressure from the domestic banking sector. However, the bank has remained cagey on its CBDC launch plans since its most recent announcement. And the news from Tatarstan appears to suggest that the digital ruble is far from dead and buried.
The ministry said it would work with the bank to pilot “conditional CBDC subsidies” from the national budget. These will be “transformed into smart contracts.” The “digital ruble test platform will independently track transactions within the established rules,” the ministry said.
Working Group Launches
The parties expect to wrap up their testing by the end of the third quarter of 2025, the ministry added. The ministry said it had already created its working group, which will be chaired by the Tatarstan Finance Minister Marat Fayzrakhmanov. It also confirmed that Tatarstan’s Minister of Digital Development Airat Khairullin would join the group. The long-serving Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina last month claimed that a “new rollout date” for the CBDC “will be announced later.” Nabiullina said the Central Bank wanted more time to work out “details” in the “pilot,” which began in August 2023. She also added that she would hold “consultation sessions” with banks to establish “the economic model most attractive to their clients.” Nabiullina claims that the pilot is going “well.” Thus far, the pilot includes 15 banks, 1,7000 citizens, and about 30 companies. The pilot initially comprised test sites in 11 cities, including Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan.
Moscow Also Testing Digital RUB
Away from the key digital ruble smart contract development, the Moscow Metro has also announced plans to expand its own digital RUB pilot operations.
The metro system was the first transport network in the nation to begin working with the digital RUB back in 2023. However, the media outlet RG.ru reported earlier this month that Moscow’s Deputy Mayor of for Transport and Industry Maxim Liksutov said the metro is “working on joint tests with the Central Bank and [the megabank] VTB.” Like the 2023 tests, the new pilot focuses on the Troika card, Moscow’s reusable contactless smart card. Liksutov said:
“Focus group participants successfully purchased several Troika cards. They also topped up the balance of their cards using their digital ruble wallets’ universal QR code features.”
The developments appear to closely mirror previous Chinese digital yuan pilots, which have also focused on delivering government subsidies to contractors and letting citizens make contactless CBDC payments on transport networks. However, Moscow has previously insisted one of the main functions of the CBDC could be to help Russian firms make cross-border payments with other digital fiat-using nations.