Despite continued sanctions, Russia plans to launch the CBDC settlement system in the first quarter of 2019.

In the coming quarter, the country's central bank will begin looking into two potential international models for settling CBDC transactions.

According to reports, Russia's central bank is getting ready to develop a cross-border settlement system utilizing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in light of the ongoing sanctions imposed on the country as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.

Kommersant, a Russian news outlet, reported on January 9 that the Russian central bank is looking into two different cross-border settlement models in preparation for the launch of the country's digital ruble in the first quarter of 2023.

In the first model, proposed, different countries enter into individual bilateral agreements with Russia to combine their CBDC systems.

Each treaty would lay out the procedures to be followed when converting or transferring assets between countries.

The second, more involved model suggests a central hub where Russia can interact with other countries and where common protocols and standards can be shared to make international payments easier.

The chairman of the board of the Financial Innovations Association (AFI), Roman Prokhorov, believes that the first model is easier to implement but less promising for bilateral interactions between countries.

The second was more "advanced," and he entertained the idea of launching a two-way system at first, with China as the most likely implementation partner due to its "technological and political readiness."

There were rumors in the press in September that Russia intended to settle trade with China using its digital ruble by the year 2023.

On the other hand, some people think that Russia's CBDC play won't be limited by technology but by politics.

According to Alexey Voylukov, vice president of the Association of Banks of Russia, the introduction of a digital ruble will not alter or improve Russia's global political situation, and trials for the CBDC platform can only be undertaken with countries that are friendly with the Russian government and technologically ready.

The Bank of Russia has previously stated that it plans to introduce its digital ruble by 2024, with all banks and credit institutions integrated into the CBDC's network.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, the country has been hit with increasing financial and trade sanctions.

It has since experimented with and pondered potential methods of evading the sanctions, such as the possibility of the central bank allowing the use of cryptocurrencies within the country "only to support foreign trade."

It was agreed upon in September between the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance that Russian citizens would be permitted to use cryptocurrency for international money transfers.

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