The Central Bank intensifies CBDC testing despite the postponement of the national launch scheduled for August.
The Russian Central Bank has chosen the Republic of Tatarstan as a testing ground for a series of smart contract functionalities for the digital ruble, signaling that plans for the central bank digital currency (CBDC) are moving forward despite the recent delay in the national rollout.
The digital ruble and smart contracts in Tatarstan
According to Russian media outlet Business Gazeta, the Central Bank has “contacted the leadership of Tatarstan with a proposal to experiment with some of the CBDC’s mechanisms.” In response, the Russian Ministry of Finance has created a dedicated working group to support the rollout of the digital ruble in the region. This development comes less than a month after the bank announced it was “indefinitely postponing” the national launch of the CBDC, originally scheduled for August 2025.
The Ministry of Finance of Tatarstan will collaborate with the bank to test conditional CBDC subsidies from the national budget, which will be converted into smart contracts. According to the ministry, the digital ruble’s testing platform will autonomously monitor transactions based on predefined rules.
The working group, chaired by Tatarstan’s Minister of Finance Marat Fayzrakhmanov and including Minister of Digital Development Airat Khairullin, aims to complete the tests by the end of the third quarter of 2025.
The digital ruble in Moscow’s transport system
Alongside the tests in Tatarstan, the Moscow Metro has announced plans to expand its pilot operations with the digital ruble. The city’s transport system was the first in the country to begin working with the Russian CBDC in 2023.
Moscow’s Deputy Minister for Transport and Industry, Maxim Liksutov, stated that the metro is “conducting joint tests with the Central Bank and [megabank] VTB.” The tests focus on the Troika card, Moscow’s reusable contactless smart card, allowing participants to purchase cards and top up their balances using the universal QR code functionality of digital ruble wallets.
The future of the digital ruble
Last month, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina stated that a new launch date for the CBDC would be announced soon. She explained that the Central Bank wants more time to refine the details of the pilot project, which began in August 2023, and plans to hold consultation sessions with banks to establish the most attractive economic model for their clients.
Currently, the pilot program includes 15 banks, 1,700 citizens, and about 30 businesses, with testing sites in 11 cities, including Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan.
