The Ministry of Finance in Russia announced once again that, according to Russian crypto regulations, crypto coins won’t be employed as a means of payment in the country.

Alexei Moiseev, the Deputy Finance Minister, told the Russian news outlet Rambler News Services that crypto-assets certainly will not become a legal payment in the jurisdiction.

“The national currency of our country is the Ruble and all payments in Russia are to be made using Ruble,” Moiseev declared.

Regarding crypto mining, Moiseev pointed out that the Russian government wasn’t considering to make crypto coin mining illegal any more and no criminal charges will be made to miners.

“Currently it is not thought to be a crime and the authorities made the decision to review the issue longer before taking any action,” Moiseev continued.

When asked about Facebook’s upcoming crypto coin, Libra, the official that there were not going to be any particular laws and regulations in relation to this coin. It would be used like any other cryptocurrency in Russia.

However, laws around Initial Coin Offerings are changing now as they become legal. Right now, the legality of crypto coins in Russia is a heavily discussed issue and, according to Maiseev, crypto-assets may be categorized as foreign currencies.

This means that the citizens of Russia will have the right to trade and store crypto coins, however, using them to make purchases will be illegal. In Maiseev’s mind, allowing the usage of crypto coins as a payment method will create unwanted confusion.

The Deputy Minister of Finance also noted that investing in digital assets might become legal, yet payments are not an option.

Anatoly Aksakov, the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market, announced a week ago that regulations and laws regarding crypto coins may be adopted in less than a month. The Government, however, still hasn’t made the final decision.