MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. Russia's Energy Ministry has prepared a draft government resolution introducing a ban on digital currency mining in several Russian regions - Moscow, the Moscow Region, and certain territories of the Kursk Region - starting July 1, 2026, according to a document published on the official portal of draft regulatory legal acts.

The designated territories in the Kursk Region include the Belovsky, Bolshesoldatsky, Glushkovsky, Korenevsky, Lgovsky, Rylsky, Sudzhansky, and Khomutovsky municipal districts, as well as the city of Lgov.

The mining ban is proposed to remain in effect from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2032.

In May, Deputy Energy Minister Yevgeny Grabchak told TASS that the government commission on electric power development had recommended introducing a ban on cryptocurrency mining in Moscow, the Moscow Region and certain areas of the Kursk Region through 2032.

Earlier, Moscow Region Energy Minister Sergey Voropanov said that the regional energy ministry saw a need to introduce a ban on cryptocurrency mining. According to the ministry's estimates, 65 data centers with a combined capacity of 734 MW are already connected in Moscow and the Moscow Region. Of these, 19 data centers with a total capacity of 233 MW are located in the Moscow Region.

About the mining ban

On March 20, the Russian government imposed a year-round ban on mining in the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory. The restriction will remain in force from April 1, 2026 through March 15, 2031.

The government has also approved a list of regions and territories where mining has been banned from Jan. 1, 2025 through March 15, 2031. Restrictions have been introduced in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Chechnya, the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

In addition, on April 7, 2025, the government ordered a complete ban on mining activities in the southern part of the Irkutsk Region.

Mining was also banned in certain areas of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory during peak electricity consumption periods. In 2025, these periods fell between January 1 and March 15.