Russia's Finance Ministry says employees receive digital ruble wages for first time

Russia's Ministry of Finance said on Friday that some employees had received wages in digital rubles for the first time. The ministry's press release said payments in the central bank's digital currency were available to Russia's citizens on a voluntary basis. The release said the wage payments began on Thursday, Oct. 1. The ministry did not disclose the number of recipients or the total payroll amount.

The ministry said about 16 million digital rubles ($192,245) had been disbursed during federal budget spending trials in 2025. The ministry said it had applied the proven payment infrastructure to its own salary procedure. The release said the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance were jointly working to introduce the digital ruble into the budget process.

Russia planned to launch the central bank digital currency on Sept. 1, as reported on July 2. Major banks and retail companies began enabling transactions with the new currency on Sept. 1. RIA Novosti said at the time that the digital currency would complement Russia's fiat currency, the ruble. RIA Novosti said financial and credit institutions would initially accept the digital currency.

Development of the digital ruble began in 2021. European Union authorities announced preemptive sanctions restricting the digital ruble in April. The European Council said the sanctions package responded to Russia's "war of aggression against Ukraine," which Russia began in February 2022.