Yesterday, the Bank of Russia issued a statement confirming that it plans to supplement its banknotes with two additional denominations: the 200 and 2,000 rubles.
The new banknotes, which are expected to enter circulation by the end of 2017, are being introduced to make cash payments easier for its citizens, citing that they will help to reduce the time it takes paying for goods. Russia is known to have a shortage of small change when shopping, though it has not been made clear whether the new denominations will help to address this issue. There are already seven denominations of Russian banknotes consisting of the 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 ruble.
Russia last had a 200 ruble banknote in the 1990’s before the ruble was re-denominated in January 1998, whereby 1 new ruble equated to 1,000 old rubles. The 200 denomination was not included in the new ruble series of banknotes.
According to the Central Bank, the new banknotes will reflect the design of the current series which incorporates Russian cities and regions. For the first time in Russia, there will be a public vote to decide which city and symbol will be used to illustrate the new notes.
Read the press release from the Central Bank of Russia here.
