Russia’s Pulkovo airport starts accepting digital rubles

St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, one of Russia’s busiest, is accepting digital rubles for parking with plans to expand the range of services that can be paid for with the national coin.
The airline hub’s first digital ruble payment comes well ahead of the gradual introduction of the state-issued digital currency for public use, scheduled to begin a full year from now.
Russian pays for parking with digital rubles
Pulkovo has become the first Russian airport to integrate the digital ruble as a payment method, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday, quoting Northern Capital Gateway, the company that runs the air transport facility.
A visitor used their smartphone to scan a QR code and their mobile banking app from VTB Bank, which co-owns the consortium, to confirm the transaction. Then they were issued a receipt through a POS terminal, the operator’s press service detailed.
The customer paid for parking at Pulkovo, which is the Russian Federation’s second-busiest airport, after Sheremetyevo International Airport in the capital Moscow.
The managing firm made it clear it intends to apply the new payment option to other services, allowing travelers to pay with digital rubles for business lounge and “fast track” services, for example.
Northern Capital Gateway’s Chief Financial Officer, Olga Korochkin, elaborated:
“We are confident that over time the digital ruble will become a common payment method, but today it was the St. Petersburg airport that was the first to implement this technology for passengers.”
Russia is pushing its digital currency
The digital ruble has been under development for quite a while, until Russian President Vladimir Putin urged this year to step up efforts for its mass adoption.
The Bank of Russia began work on the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2021, and the necessary legislation came into force in 20