Key Takeaways
- The Finance Ministry is contemplating bringing a broader group of “digital currencies” under the allowed payment methods for international trade.
- Russia’s Central bank had earlier called for ban on crypto.
According to a report by local news outlet Interfax, Russia’s Ministry of Finance is “actively” considering allowing cryptocurrencies for international trade. Commenting on the possibility Ivan Chebeskov, director of the financial policy department of the Ministry of Finance, said, “The issue of using such digital currencies as barter transactions for international settlements is being actively discussed.”
Ivan further stated, “If the digital currency is recognized as property, in principle, within the framework of barter transactions with such a digital currency, it will be possible to carry out operations on foreign economic activity.” “The topic is being discussed and, it seems to me, deserves attention, given that we have limited possibilities for settlements in the classical, traditional payment infrastructure,” the report reads.
Russian authorities have hinted at this option multiple times in 2022. Earlier this year, the chairman of the country’s Congressional energy committee, Pavel Zavalny, stated in a press conference that the country was open to accepting bitcoin for its natural resources exports. The country’s tax authority in April proposed that legal entities in Russia should be able to accept BTC along with other cryptocurrencies as payment in foreign trade contracts.
Russia is currently warming up to the idea of digital assets and currencies. However, Russia’s central bank is still skeptical about crypto and has called for a ban on it in March 2022. Unlike the central bank, the finance ministry believes in the optimal future of bitcoin and has called for cryptocurrency regulation in the country.
Denis Manturov,who holds post of Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, stated that BTC along with other cryptocurrencies being legalized in Russia is just a matter of time.
The Russian government in February presented the overhaul cryptocurrency draft bill and approved the concept of regulating BTC as well as other cryptocurrencies based on a proposal drafted by the Ministry of Finance.
The Finance Ministry is currently working on bringing the broader group of “digital currencies” under the allowed payment methods for international trade. The development comes at a time when Russia has been facing an economic crash owing to Western sanctions imposed by the US following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
