Russia is reducing the share of its budget revenues from gas and oil production and hopes to reduce its dependence on volatile raw materials to around 23% by 2027, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. in an interview broadcast late Wednesday afternoon.
Siluanov, quoted by Russian news agencies, also told RT TV’s Arabic service that Russia’s new cryptocurrency regulations were not designed to generate revenue, but rather as a mechanism to facilitate the foreign trade.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
Russia has tried to reduce its reliance on its oil and gas reserves, which face volatile markets, as a way to provide budget revenue.
Cryptocurrency regulation is seen as a tool for Russia to conduct foreign trade operations and circumvent Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has faced delays in international payments with its major trading partners such as China, India and the United Arab Emirates, as banks in these countries have become more cautious due to pressure from Western regulators .
KEY QUOTES
“In general, we are currently trying to minimize the influence of oil prices on the budget. While a few years ago this indicator was between 35% and 40%, in 2025 it will fall to 27%. and in 2027 at 23%.”
“We are working to reduce Russia’s share of volatile income and dependence on oil and gas in order to boost our national economy.
“The result of mining is that cryptocurrencies will be a means of payment, including with our foreign trading partners… So it is not so important how much we earn from mining, but rather that the legislation allows to use them to settle accounts, primarily not domestically, but abroad, for goods and services.”
CONTEXT
The cryptocurrency mining legislation signed by President Vladimir Putin will come into force under certain conditions from November 1.
A special register will be maintained by the Ministry of Finance for companies that engage in cryptocurrency mining. People who mine digital currencies will have to provide certain information to the Russian financial supervisory authority.
