The Central Bank of Russia plans to make the first real payments as part of the digital ruble pilot next year. This was said by the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, writes TASS.

According to him, the regulator quickly created a prototype of its own digital currency and is now testing it with banks.

“Next year, as they say, we will gradually do pilot calculations in the real economy with the digital ruble,” he said.

Recall that the first pilot batch to test the asset included 12 banks.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent backlash from the West, the media suggested that Russian companies could use the digital ruble to circumvent sanctions.