Digitalization of the Russian ruble. Introduction of a new form of Russian currency.

Alekseenko Aleksandr Petrovich PhD in Law Associate Professor, Department of Civil Law Disciplines, Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service 690014, Russia, Primorskii krai, g. Vladivostok, ul. Gogolya, 41 aleksandr.alekseenko1@vvsu.ru

Mungalov Aleksandr Vital'evich Master's Degree, Department of Theory and History of Russian and Foreign Law, Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service 690014, Russia, Primorskii krai, g. Vladivostok, ul. Gogolya, 41 mungalov.aleksandr98@mail.ru

In the last 10 years, significant changes have taken place in the global economy, which are caused by the rapid development of the Internet information and communication network and the influence of this network on the daily lives of people, companies and the state as a whole. For several years now, discussions have been taking place in the scientific community on the settlement of crypto assets and the possibility of using digital finance in the payment system of states, and the replacement of fiat money in the future.

Digitalization in recent years has been one of the main drivers of changes in the financial sector in the world as a whole and in Russia. At first, the development - outside of state control and rather with a very critical attitude on the part of official regulators - received a phenomenon called "cryptocurrency" (essentially what economists call "private money"). However, later, states and central banks joined digital experiments. This is how the phenomenon of the "central bank digital currency" - Central Bank digital currencies (CBDC) appeared. Central banks saw new opportunities in the new instrument, primarily in terms of abandoning paper (cash) turnover and control

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation did not stand aside either: in 2019, the first research report on the prospects of digital currencies of central banks was prepared, and in 2021, the Bank of Russia published the concept of the "Digital Ruble" taking into account public opinion. The introduction of such a financial instrument is associated with significant changes in the legal sphere. This article is devoted to the analysis and legal assessment of the "digital ruble", and we will also try to predict the impact of the Russian digital currency on the economy of our state.

On April 08, 2021, the Central Bank of Russia presented the concept of the "digital ruble", which took into account the public opinion of the scientific community based on reviews of the report of the Bank of Russia from 2019. This concept reveals the legal nature of the new currency, namely: "the digital ruble will be issued by the Bank of Russia, it will become the third form of the Russian national currency and will be used on a par with cash and non-cash rubles." The Bank of Russia equated the ruble figure with traditional cash and non-cash funds, while making a note of significant advantages in relation to them. This concept does not give a legal definition of the "digital ruble".

At the same time, paragraph 3 of Article 1 of Federal Law No. 259-FZ of 31.07.2020 establishes that "a digital currency is a set of electronic data (digital code or designation) contained in an information system that is offered and (or) can be accepted as a means of payment that is not a monetary unit of the Russian Federation ...".

Taking into account these circumstances, a question arose in the legal community: The digital ruble, as the national currency, will be a new object of civil law or will it be disclosed through the legal definition of "digital currency"?

A.V. Gabov argues that "in this sense, the concept of "digital currency" cannot be considered successful. The word "currency" refers us rather to the part of Article 140 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, where we are talking about a foreign currency; in this article, "currency" and "foreign currency" are synonyms. Thus, the words "digital currency" imply opposition to the ruble (i.e. it is not the ruble, but something else)" ^[1].

At the same time, based on the definition of "digital currency": a digital currency cannot be a digital ruble, since a digital currency cannot be a monetary unit of the Russian Federation ("which are offered and (or) can be accepted as a means of payment that is not a monetary unit of the Russian Federation ...").

In this situation, the question arises how the state regards the digital ruble, if not so long ago a new object of civil law was introduced – digital rights, which include digital financial assets, utilitarian digital rights and digital currencies.

R.M. Yankovsky writes that "according to Article 140 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Law On Currency Regulation and Currency Control, the category of money includes cash and non-cash funds" ^[2].

It is interesting to note that Article 1 of Federal Law No. 173-FZ of 10.12.2003 "On Currency Regulation and Currency Control", which defines the concept of "currency of the Russian Federation", does not use the word "ruble" to describe it, but speaks of "banknotes" and "funds in bank accounts and in bank deposits"

In other words, taking into account the current situation, a digital currency is not a monetary unit of the Russian Federation, i.e. it is not a ruble, while if a digital ruble is a ruble, but only in a different form, as approved by the Bank of Russia, then a digital ruble cannot be called a digital currency. This analysis of two definitions points to the problems of the current legislation, including the Law on Digital Financial Assets, according to the authors, the legislator will systematically amend the legislation in the field of digital assets in order to eliminate ambiguous and broad interpretation of basic terms.

So, summing up the concept of the "Digital Ruble" presented by the Bank of Russia, the digital ruble will not be a new object of civil law. The digital ruble will be a new form of implementation of the fiat ruble in the digital space.

This approach of the authors of the "digital ruble" concept looks logical and justified, because the authors tried to stay within the framework of Article 75 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation ("the ruble is the monetary unit in the Russian Federation") ^[6] and Article 27 of Federal Law No. 86-FZ of 10.07.2002 ("the official monetary unit (currency) of the Russian Federation is ruble"). This article 27 of the Law also contains another important provision that led to this approach: it explicitly and unequivocally says that "the introduction of other monetary units on the territory of the Russian Federation and the issuance of monetary surrogates are prohibited." Based on these legal guidelines, the authors of the concept bypassed the specified provisions of the legislation of the Russian Federation, but still it seems to us that the concept of the "digital ruble" contradicts the state's policy regarding "digital currencies" set out in the Law on Digital Financial Assets.

In fact, in the presented concept of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, a certain "civil-legal image" of the digital ruble has already been formed: this is the owner's right of claim to the issuer - the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, respectively, the digital ruble will be the obligation of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to the owner ^[2].

Under such conditions, it can be assumed that financial and legal regulation may include relations related to the procedure for issuing a digital ruble, its conversion into other monetary forms (cash or non-cash) and, conversely, the procedure for withdrawing a digital ruble from circulation. Each of the listed operations, in essence, is a certain procedure for working with a computer program. The main subjects, participants in such relations will be the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and commercial banks, depending on which model of participation in digital turnover will be chosen for commercial banks. In such circumstances, the proposed legal regulation risks being reduced to the formation of instructions for working with the relevant information system.

The main advantage of the digital ruble is the accessibility of citizens and law firms to their digital wallets through any financial institution of which they are clients. The digital ruble also allows you to make calculations without access to the Internet, i.e. in offline mode.

For the turnover of the digital ruble, customers will need to register on the digital ruble platform and open a corresponding wallet through a client bank of any credit institution.

The client can access his wallet on the digital ruble platform through the infrastructure of any financial institution in which he has an account.

The concept presents schemes that reveal the process of issuing a digital ruble and the process of movement of the digital ruble through the client's wallets.

At the same time, there are also significant risks for the state economy of introducing a new national currency.

N.V. Omelkhina points out that with the introduction of the "digital ruble" a lot of questions arise:

- prospects of legal regulation of the "digital ruble" in the system of financial law institutions;

- the legal nature of the obligations of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the "digital ruble", to consider them as a private law, public law or intersectoral institute of law;

- legal regulation of the "electronic wallet" in the system of financial law institutions ^[3,4]

For financial and legal regulation, it is obviously necessary to answer the sacred question: will the issue law regulating the issue and circulation of cash, regulating in a certain part the issue and circulation of non-cash money, be replenished by another institution - the institute regulating the issue and circulation of digital money - the digital ruble.

Under such conditions, it can be assumed that financial and legal regulation may include relations related to the procedure of issuing a digital ruble, its conversion into other monetary forms (cash or non-cash) and, conversely, the procedure for withdrawing a digital ruble from circulation. Each of the listed operations, in essence, is a certain regulation of working with a computer program. The main subjects, participants in such relations will be the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and commercial banks, depending on which model of participation in digital turnover will be chosen for commercial banks ^[5]. In such circumstances, the proposed legal regulation risks being reduced to the formation of instructions for working with the relevant information system.

It draws attention to the fact that the digital ruble is supposed to be created as a unique digital code that is stored on a special "digital ruble electronic wallet" (in a certain information system). From the point of view of legal categories, it seems that the digital ruble should be characterized as a virtual, but at the same time an individually defined object of law, an object of legal relations, which is subject to state registration in the process of issue, the ownership of which is also registered in accordance with the procedure established by law (according to the creators "not anonymously, but confidentially"). The digital ruble, in fact, is a product of the will of a public entity - the monetary regulatory authority - the Central Bank of the Russian Federation ^[6]. Accordingly, the relations connected with the existence of this object, with the emergence of rights to this object, have every reason to become the subject of the right of monetary circulation, the issue law as part of the institutions of financial law.

So, for non-cash money, which are obligations of commercial banks, it is the latter that are obligated to the owners of the bank account. It is assumed that the owner of the bank account has the right at any time to submit a request to a commercial bank for the provision of an equivalent amount of cash, and the commercial bank is obliged to fulfill it. As for the claims of the owners of cash to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the latter does not provide anyone with any satisfaction - neither gold, nor commodity, nor any other counter-satisfaction. In this regard, legal experts even propose to exclude the provision on the security of cash and its definition as an unconditional obligation of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation from the Federal Law "On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation".

As for the digital ruble, the concept says that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will be obligated under this form of funds, and digital money will be provided with the possibility of freely transferring them into cash or non-cash. In this context, digital money can be considered as a liability. However, with respect to them, as well as with respect to cash, there is obviously little reason to assert that the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation are secured in the sense of a civil obligation.

Thus, the digital transformation of the object of financial legal relations is expressed in the change of both the object of financial property and non-property, but related to property relations. In financial property relations, the monoobject - money - is preserved, but its polyform structure is digitally transformed. In financial non-property relations, digital transformation is expressed in the inclusion of information systems in their object, which are an instrument for organizing modern non-cash money circulation and can in the future be considered as an instrument for the issue and circulation of digital money issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In turn, various digital phenomena (digital financial assets, cryptocurrency, etc.) as objects of property relations, they require an assessment of the prospects for their use in the financial activities of public legal entities as instruments for the formation or expenditure of public funds.

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