Russian Businesses are Circumventing Sanctions by Using Cryptocurrencies

Russian businesses operating within the Russian Federation have begun to use cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions in cross-border transactions, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Russian businesses are already getting around sanctions with the help of cryptocurrencies. This is despite the fact regulation of the crypto scene in the Russian Federation has not yet been properly configured.

This was stated in an interview by the director of the financial policy department of the Ministry of Finance, Ivan Chebeskov.

Chebeskov did not specify which companies are in question. However, it was reported that the volume of transactions has increased several times. This is against the background of a tightening sanction regime.

Russian Businesses and ‘Unfriendly’ Countries

Vladimir Gamza is the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. He said that business in the Russian Federation mainly uses cryptocurrency for transactions with unfriendly countries (USA, Ukraine, Norway, Singapore and others).

It is expected that before the end of the year, the Russian authorities will introduce legislative requirements for cross-border transactions in cryptocurrency. In the Russian Federation itself, however, the authorities do not intend to legalize the circulation of cryptocurrencies.

Digital Ruble

Despite the Russian authority’s positive sentiment towards using cryptocurrencies abroad, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is not as optimistic. Instead of cryptocurrencies, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation wants to see the use of the digital ruble, which is currently being tested among a limited group of Russian banks.

Elvira Nabiullina is the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. She said the financial mega-regulator intends to promote the digital ruble for cross-border transactions. There is already work being done on a prototype system for interfacing with other monetary systems. However, she acknowledged that the implementation of the system depends not so much on the Russian Federation, but on the readiness of the other side. So, it is not clear how popular the digital ruble will be for such purposes.

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