Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the Financial Market Committee of the State Duma of Russia, stated at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will become popular within five years and will be used as a standard for international payments.

Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Russian Central Bank, stated that the large-scale launch of the digital ruble will take five to seven years, and the pilot phase of the digital ruble will be extended, but any decision regarding large-scale expansion will not be made before 2025. This seems to contradict the recent proposal by the Chairman of the Financial Market Committee of the State Duma to begin the launch next year.

Central Bank of Russia announced that another 17 banks are ready to join the digital ruble pilot program. These financial institutions have signed agreements with the Central Bank of Russia and are currently implementing the necessary systems to participate in the upcoming expanded pilot project. Currently, 13 banks are participating in the digital ruble pilot project, along with approximately 600 citizens and 30 trade and service companies. These participants have been actively involved in business testing using real digital rubles. The existing 13 participating banks are Alfa Bank, Dom.Rf Bank, Ingosstrakh Bank, VTB Bank, GPB Bank, Qiwi Bank, AkBars Bank, MTS Bank, Promsvyaz Bank, Sovcombank Bank, Sinara Bank, Rosbank Bank, and TKB Bank. The 17 banks joining the digital ruble expansion pilot include: Russia AB Bank, Orenburg Bank, Russia Standard Bank, SME Bank, Russia Agricultural Bank, Tinkoff Bank, Expobank Bank, Novikombank Bank, RRB Bank, Kuban Credit Bank, Tochka Bank, Primtercombank Bank, Rosdorbank Bank, Sberbank Bank, CB Center-Invest, RNKB Bank, and Dengi.Mail.Ru.