Page 12 - RusRPTFeb22

of stock markets and destabilize banks. Finally, large-scale crypto-purchases represent an outflow of capital, which weakens the ruble.
A Central Bank source familiar with the discussions on this issue told The Bell that the regulator is concerned that, if Russia makes it easy to purchase cryptocurrency, then it will become available to people who understand nothing of the risks involved. Then, if the value of cryptocurrencies collapse, it will be the Central Bank that is left to clear up the mess — and deal with all the financial and political consequences.
Would a ban work?
Given that Russia is a world leader in terms of cryptocurrency penetration, the Central Bank is probably too late, according to The Bell’s sources. Even the Soviet Union’s brutal persecution of currency speculators could not subdue a shadow market in the US dollar and in modern Russia it will be impossible to ban cryptocurrencies, Yury Pripachkin, the president of the Russian Association of Crypto-economics, told media outlet RBC.
Market participants were surprised that the Central Bank seems keen to push Russian crypto-investors into foreign jurisdictions where they can no longer be controlled. As a result, the Central Bank’s forecasts about the criminalization of crypto-transactions will become a self-fulfilling prophecy: when everything happens on the gray or black markets, the regulator can no longer track who is buying tokens and how they are transferring them.
2.5 Moscow new transport strategy to reduce car usage
The Directorate of the Moscow Transport Hub has published the transport development strategy for Moscow and the region that will cost RUB10 trillion, which has been under development since 2019.
The estimate of the strategy already approved by the Ministry of Transport is RUB10.1 trillion . Of these, RUB1.4 trillion will come from the federal budget, RUB3.9 trillion from regional (mainly Moscow), and the rest from extrabudgetary sources, including Russian Railways and concessionaires.
The previous program for the development of the transport complex of Moscow with the region cost about the same amount in annual terms - RUB6.4 trillion in 2013-2020. The fundamental difference between the new one is the curtailment of the infrastructure construction boom in Moscow by 2025, in the Moscow region - by 2030. After that, the money will go mainly to the maintenance of the constructed facilities.
Almost 60% of the funds are earmarked for road construction, 16% for the subway. The length of roads and streets will increase by 6.8 thousand km, metro — by 187 km compared to the base year 2019. The list of projects includes the M-12 Moscow-Kazan federal highway, the Central Ring Road,
12 RUSSIA Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com