- Finance Ministry wants new crypto regulations to come into force July 1.
- Russians pay $15 billion a year in fees to overseas crypto exchanges.
- Kremlin seeking to block access to foreign crypto platforms.
There’s a hole in Russia’s finances, and it’s becoming too big for the Kremlin to ignore.
In September, the government set a budget deficit cap of $46 billion for 2026.
The problem? The deficit already stood at 91% by the end of February, Russian media outlet Vyberu wrote, with pundits blaming a 50% drop in oil and gas revenues.
Rising oil and gas prices may help alleviate some of the pain. But belts clearly need to be tightened in Moscow. That’s why the Ministry of Finance has made preventing capital from leaking overseas its major…
