VTB clients make up almost half of all legal entities participating in digital ruble pilot
ST. PETERSBURG. July 3 (Interfax) - There are currently 500 legal entities taking part in the digital ruble pilot project, and around half of these are clients of VTB , VTB Senior Deputy CEO and Transaction Banking Director Igor Ostreiko told Interfax.
The digital ruble is the third form of the Russian national currency that the Central Bank of Russia plans to issue in addition to the existing forms of cash and non-cash money. The CBR began conducting a pilot project with real digital rubles on August 15, 2023.
"Among the legal entities participating in the digital ruble pilot project, there are now 213 of VTB's clients. Considering that there are only around 500 legal entities in the Central Bank's pilot project, VTB makes up practically half of all corporate participants. All of the key industries are represented in the pilot," Ostreiko said.
"We have already tested out the key scenarios: payments by private individuals to legal entities using a QR code, transfers between legal entities, payments from legal entities along a chain of counterparties, where we can already see the practical benefit for companies, as well as payments from legal entities to private individuals," he said.
Ostreiko said that 100,000 transactions had been conducted in Russia as part of the pilot project, of which 20,000 were to VTB, including transactions by both legal entities and private individuals.
He said that in terms of basic functionality, VTB would be ready to start working with digital rubles from September 1, having already implemented practically all of the regulator's requirements.
"We don't see any risk that we might not manage to add large merchants to the program by September 1. If a queue of merchants forms which need to be added, I'm sure that we will find a solution to speed up the process together with the Central Bank. For today, there are no objective reasons to doubt whether we are prepared to meet the deadline," Ostreiko said.
He said that the experiment announced yesterday by the CBR to allow for digital ruble wallets to be opened on balances in banks other than just the Central Bank would make the work of banks and the commerce community more straightforward, bringing it closer to the familiar model of using the ruble.
"There will be more real case studies for business, because banks will be able to manage liquidity rather than reserving it on Central Bank accounts. And to find interesting, applied solutions for companies in addition," Ostreiko said.
It has been reported that large banks and trading companies should begin providing clients with access to digital ruble transactions on September 1, 2026.
CBR Deputy Governor Zulfiya Kakhrumanova said on July 2 that the regulator was planning to launch the experiment with digital ruble wallets by 2029. This experiment includes the possibility of opening deposits and issuing loans.
