Russia’s Finance Ministry has paid some employees their wages in digital rubles for the first time moving the central bank digital currency into government payroll as the country expands its use.

The salary payments began on October 1 2026 and were voluntary with participating employees required to open digital Ruble accounts on the Bank of Russia’s platform, the Finance Ministry said.

The ministry did not disclose the number of employees who received their wages in digital rubles or the total value of the payments.

The roll-out follows a 2025 pilot in which about 16 million digital rubles, worth roughly $192,245 at the time, were used for federal budget spending. The ministry said the infrastructure tested during that exercise was subsequently applied to salary payments.

The Bank of Russia and the Finance Ministry are working together to integrate the digital ruble into Russia’s budget system.

Bank of Russia Starts Testing Digital Ruble

The digital ruble is issued by the Bank of Russia and is designed to operate alongside cash and conventional non-cash rubles as a third form of the national currency.

Russia began a broader rollout of the digital ruble on September 1 2026 when major banks and large retailers started providing customers with access to digital-ruble transactions.

The Bank of Russia has said individuals will decide whether to use the digital currency with accounts opened on its platform only with the user’s consent.

The latest move marks a shift from testing the digital ruble in government payments to using it for routine public-sector payroll adding another use case as Russia seeks to expand adoption of its central bank digital currency.

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