VTB told about testing the digital ruble for social payments to parents of schoolchildren

VTB, together with the Bank of Russia and the government of St. Petersburg, is testing the use of the digital ruble for social payments to parents of primary school students studying at home. Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB, told about this at SPIEF 2025.

She explained that one of the social support measures in St. Petersburg was chosen for testing — parents of a child are compensated in digital rubles for an amount equivalent to the cost of school meals. "Payments will be credited to a separate account in digital rubles. Unlike other operations, the subsidy can only be spent in grocery stores on certain groups of goods," Skorobogatova said.

Vadim Kulik, Deputy President and Chairman of the Board of VTB, added that VTB is preparing for the mass introduction of the digital ruble in Russia and is testing various scenarios for its use. "Previously, we tested receiving scholarships and paying off fines using digital rubles. This experience will help the government, banks and subsidy recipients to interact with each other faster and more conveniently, as well as accelerate the development of digital payments in the country," Kulik said.

On Thursday, June 19, VTB and the government of St. Petersburg signed a memorandum of cooperation on the introduction of the digital ruble.

The VTB press service clarified that the bank has completed setting up the technological infrastructure for the implementation of payments in digital rubles. After the approval of the relevant legislation, the digital ruble can be widely used.