INTERVIEW: Prosecutor General’s Office welcomes digital ruble

MOSCOW, Dec 9 (PRIME) -- The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office supports introduction of the digital ruble, which will make settlements more transparent and reduce the risks of corruption and money laundering, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov told PRIME in an interview released on Thursday.

“One of the solutions to the problem of criminalization of the digital space could become introduction of the digital ruble as a new additional form of money by the Central Bank of Russia,” Krasnov said.

“We fully welcome this idea. Many countries are taking this path now. The main advantage of the Central Bank’s digital currency is a significant increase in transparency of settlements and, consequently, a decrease in the risks of corruption and money laundering. In other words, the new technologies open new opportunities to resist the existing criminal threats.”

The chief prosecutor also said that the “cryptocurrency” term should be added to the law.

“Although court practice on criminal cases is inclined to treat the cryptocurrency as property, or an object of bribe, it should not be found yet a sufficient circumstance to shape unified and sustainable law enforcement,” Krasnov said.

“I assume it should be stimulated by addition of the cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets notion into the criminal field through stipulating relevant regulations in the law. The more so, because such decisions have been already applied to some areas.

“We’ve drafted changes to some statutory instruments so that the illegally circulated cryptocurrencies will be not only found a subject of a crime, but there is a legal option to arrest and confiscate them.”

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