The Bank of Russia will launch a pilot for the digital ruble in April that will test transactions between individuals and retail payments. 

Thirteen banks that have signalled their readiness will participate, deputy governor Olga Skorobogatova said at a cyber security and finance forum on February 17. 

At this stage, the pilot will include only a select few participants, not the banks’ regular customers, Skorobogatova said. 

Previous plans to launch a CBDC pilot were delayed. Central bank