Russia Moves Forward with New Series

The Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Mikhail Alekseev, has provided local media with more details of the new Russian series, which will start going into circulation with the new 100 rubles in 2022. It will be followed by the 1,000 and 5,000 rubles in 2023, the 500 rubles in 2024 and 10 and 50 rubles in 2025. The 200 and 2,000 rubles, both introduced in 2017, will not be included in the new series.

The conceptual designs for the new notes, which will be more modern both in design and features, have been approved by the Bank’s Board. Although no visual references will be provided before the unofficial unveiling of each new note, it is understood that they will be in line with the design approach of the 2,000 ruble of 2017.

The colours will be broadly the same as the current series, albeit in different shades that are lighter and more modern. The sizes remain the same. There will be large contrasting numbers and embossed marks for determining denominations by blind people and an arrangement of security features that are more convenient for checking.

In post-Soviet Russia, the urban theme was chosen as the design basis of the banknote series on what was meant to be a temporary basis, and the choice of cities and urban landmarks was somewhat random as a result. The intention to replace these with images of famous Russians in the late 1990s never materialised, but the Bank is now taking the opportunity to introduce a degree of consistency in the choice of cities represented.

The urban theme will be supplemented with a regional theme, so that everyone will be able to associate themselves with a banknote through the region in which they live. In addition, given that Russia is the largest state in the world by landmass, the new series is intended to emphasise the scale and geographic diversity of the country.

The chosen cities will feature only on the face of the banknote. On the reverse will be symbols, monuments, other public buildings and natural landscapes specific to the region in which the city is located. Now that the design for the 100 rubles (based on Moscow and the Central Federal District) has been approved, the Bank has put together an expert team of historians, cultural scientists, numismatists and paper document and design specialists to help choose the symbols for the 1,000 and 5,000 rubles, the themes of which will be based on Nizhny Novgorod and the Volga Federal District, and Yekaterinburg and the Urals Federal District, respectively.

In terms of substrate, all current banknotes other than the 200 rubles are made on paper with anti-microbial properties. The lower denominations are also varnished. The Bank, which has been tasked with reducing the costs of cash by 8% over five years, has pointed to the success of the vanished notes in extending their lifetime and is not considering a switch to polymer for the new series, with Mr Alekseev stating that plastic is not environmentally friendly and it is more difficult to implement security features on it.