MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Russia’s Energy Ministry has proposed banning cryptocurrency mining in several regions starting in December 2024. The issue will be considered at a governmental commission on November 18, a source in the office of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told TASS.

"Indeed, there is a proposal from the Energy Ministry, we will consider [it] at a [meeting of] the governmental commission on November 18," the source said.

"The Energy Ministry sees it as prudent to ban the mining of digital currency in areas facing critical regulatory and fiscal parameters and regions with subsidized electricity prices during forecasted shortages," the ministry told TASS.

The government has the right to ban mining in certain regions or certain territories, the source stressed, adding that the governmental commission makes decisions based on advice from the Energy Ministry and heads of regions.

The Kommersant daily wrote earlier about plans to ban people from mining crypto in a number of regions citing files to the governmental commission on energy sector development. The proposal would ban mining in a number of cities and regions in the Irkutsk Region, Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Region from December 1, 2024 to March 15,2025, according to the publication. After that it will cover peak demand periods in those regions, from November 15 to March 15, each year through 2031.

The ban may also be introduced in the Karachay-Circassian Region, the Kabardino-Balkaria Region, the North Ossetia-Alania Region, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, the Kherson Region, the Zaporozhye Region, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR).