SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russia expects the local subsidiaries of European banks Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and UniCredit to participate in the mass launch of the digital rouble in July 2025 or face potential fines, the central bank said on Thursday.
Austria’s RBI and Italy’s UniCredit are two of Russia’s 13 systemically important banks but they are also under pressure from the European Central Bank to cut their exposure to Russia.
Russia has been piloting a digital rouble and plans to begin mass implementation on July 1, 2025. Under the pilot scheme, a select group of individuals and companies has been allowed to open digital wallets and make purchases and transfers with digital roubles.
Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the full rollout next year would be voluntary for individuals, but not for systemically important lenders.
“We envisage that those who are not ready must pay a fine, but for this, legislation must be adopted,” Nabiullina told reporters at a financial forum in Sochi. “(The legislation) has been introduced. We hope that it will be passed.”
Raiffeisen’s Russian subsidiary declined to comment. UniCredit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More than 130 countries are exploring digital versions of their currencies as the world’s financial authorities respond to declining cash usage and the threat to their money-printing powers from the likes of bitcoin and ‘Big Tech’.
The digital rouble could be crucial for Russia as it tries to circumvent payment issues caused by sweeping Western sanctions and as major trading partners such as China become more cautious in their dealings with Russia due to sanctions.
Moscow is seeking to convince BRICS countries to build an alternative platform for international payments that would be immune to Western sanctions when it hosts the group’s leaders at a summit next week.
It will be several years before the digital rouble is fit for mass usage, Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova said. She confirmed that Raiffeisen and UniCredit’s subsidiaries would be expected to take part.
“Naturally, all structures should support the digital rouble for its clients, both banks and trade-service enterprises,” Skorobogatova said. “For all systemically important banks and for universal banks, we envisage the same terms and there is no exception here.”
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya, additional reporting by Valentina Za; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Susan Fenton)
