The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has expressed its readiness to consider the issue of making payments using cryptocurrency in the Republic of Crimea with an aim to attract foreign tourists, as announced on Saturday by Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev on Russia-24 news. He clarified that there were no serious discussions on this question yet.

"To stimulate foreign tourism in the Crimea, and to ensure that people who go there are not persecuted in their homeland for having visited the Crimea, as their trips are usually disclosed due to payments made by credit cards, it might be worth considering and making some exceptions. For now, of course, there are no serious conversations regarding this matter," he said.

In addition, in speaking about the state's attitude to cryptocurrencies, Moiseev stated that there wasn’t any talk about a complete ban on virtual money in Russia, including bitcoin. "There is no way saying something like: let's prohibit cryptocurrencies and pretend they do not exist at all. It will not work. People will go on buying bitcoins in cafes for cash anyway, and we should not rule that out. If you want to trade within legal boundaries then go ahead, and if you earn on it, then pay tax," the Deputy Minister explained.

A draft bill on the circulation of cryptocurrency in Russia may be submitted to the State Duma in September 2017. Before that time, the Ministry of Finance plans to finalize its proposals, one of which is going to be the mandatory identification of electronic currency buyers.

The head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said that the regulator intends to thoroughly study the principles of cryptocurrencies and only after that will they introduce regulatory measures. The Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, Olga Skorobogatova, stated earlier that the Bank of Russia will present regulatory options on the taxation of cryptocurrencies as a digital asset by the end of June.

  Crimea, cryptocurrency, Russia, Tourism

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