Russia’s central bank is forming a group of banking institutions to test a central bank digital currency (CBDC) next year.

On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Russia officially announced the creation of the first pilot group to test the digital ruble, in which 12 Russian banks will participate.

Pilot members include Russia’s largest banks such as state-backed Sberbank and VTB, as well as large private banks such as Tinkoff Bank. Other participants are the commercial banks Alfa Bank, Gazprombank, Promsvyazbank, Rosbank, Ak Bars Bank, Dom.RF, SKB-Bank, TKB and Soyuz Bank.

The bank reaffirms Russia’s plan to complete a prototype digital ruble platform by the end of 2021 and start a test in January 2022. The first stage of the testing process includes issuing digital rubles and a number of other activities. The Russian central bank then plans to expand the number of participants and the scope of the pilot activities.

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The first deputy governor of Russia’s central bank, Olga Skorobogatova, said the digital ruble will increase solvency while reducing costs.

The Central Bank of Russia officially announced its CBDC plan and published a consultation document on the development of a digital ruble in October 2020.

The central bank’s fondness for digital rubles over private cryptocurrencies has drawn the ire of a number of celebrities, including celebrity tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who recently argued that the bank should provide “a real financial instrument that would allow independence in foreign trade transactions “.

Tinkoff’s CEO says the central bank’s policies have prevented Tinkoff from offering cryptocurrency trading services.